review for Bird on a Wire on AllMovie

John Badham's film features two attractive stars in a mediocre, often incoherent action-comedy. The story deals with Mel Gibson as a man who has lived under the Witness Protection Program for 15 years, after fingering a drug dealer. Suddenly, not only has the dealer (David Carradine) come looking for him, but he has run into an old girlfriend, corporate lawyer Goldie Hawn. Except for the most loyal fans of these two, there's not much to recommend in this film, which would like to be Romancing the Stone(1984), but is nowhere close. An unbelievable setup leads to an incoherent plot, in which the attractive pair are chased around the country on planes, trains, and automobiles by drug dealers. The stars are supposed to have had a relationship years ago, but this is no more credible than anything else in the film. The film is studded with various references to the stars' anatomical parts, and although many will be disappointed, some will be grateful that what Gibson dubs his "Mr. Wiggly" remains under wraps.