After Hours
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Movie Reviews of After Hours
Movie Review: THOROUGHLY DEMENTED, HARROWING NIGHT ON THE TOWN!
Summary: 4 Stars
"After Hours" is the out of control spiraling saga of mild mannered Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne), a number cruncher whose chance meeting with the seemingly harmless, Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) leads to an increasingly perilous adventure. Marcy is full of interesting stories and this is precisely why Paul is initially attracted to her. However, Marcy's behavior becomes increasingly unstable and Paul bolts. Feeling like a jerk, which of course he is, Paul decides to return for an apology but discovers Marcy dead in her bedroom. Unfortunately for Paul, he soon finds himself the focus of a troupe of vigilantes who believe he's responsible for a string of burglaries. Eventually, Paul's artist friend offers him a means of escape by turning him into a Paper Mache figure - go figure?!? Scorsese populates his city-scape with a cavalcade of crazies, including Terri Garr's neurotic/compulsive waitress and Cheech and Chong as the pair of burglars on the prowl. This is a crazy adventure but one which does not tread the typical wacky conventions of the genre. Rather, it presents one man's folly as the beginnings of a terrifying "Silence-of-the-Lambs-ish" experience in which mediocrity is favored over free-spiritness.
Although much maligned by many critics upon its initial release, "After Hours" has since developed a cult following that has spilled into the mainstream. Critics and poor box office aside, the film is a tour de force of set pieces with an eerie, unsettling quality and some very grim, black humor that is outstanding.
Warner's DVD delivers a very nice looking vintage 80s image. Colors are vibrant and flesh tones are accurately rendered. Black levels are deep and white are very clean. Film grain and a hint of dirt are present but do not distract. There are no digital anomalies for a very smooth picture that will not disappoint. The audio is mono and nicely cleaned up and balanced. Extras include a featurette on the making of the film, an insightful audio commentary and theatrical trailer.
Movie Review: excellent film but don't buy the DVD for the commentary
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an excellent film and one my all time favs. If you like offbeat dark comedies a la Coen brothers, you will love this movie. Griffin Dunne is one my favourite actors, although he can overact at times. He is plays the frantic all around "nice guy" really well in this film. He is clearly out of his element in the wacky artsy Soho area of New York. Nobody makes any sense, especially the women, who are all lunatics. Either Scorcese or Minion is making a statement about the tendency of women to be eratic and overly emotional, I'm not sure. Scorcese comments that he hated living in downtown New York cause he just wanted "go into a building and press a button for an elevator".
Which brings me to the commentary. If you are thinking of getting this (or renting it) for the commentary, save your money, the commentary is horrible and consists mostly of the cinematographer, who I'm sure is a nice guy but he bored me silly, not enough Dunne of Scorcese, we just get endless minutes of this yutz droning on about different shots in excrutiating detail. Anyway, I'll save you trouble, basically the jist of the commentary was that Scorcese was making Last Temptation of Christ and the project got dumped, so he chose this movie because of the tight schedule. They shot the film very quickly and it comes through because there is definitely a sense of urgency that permeates it.
The end product is one of Scorcese's greatest and it is actually multi layered, with many allusions to the Wizard of Oz (trying to get home) and flames/fire (being trapped in Hell). The way all the plot elements tie together is quite clever, something you don't see in todays films, it's all paint by numbers.
Anyway, if you liked this film, check out "Search and Destroy" also with Dunne being even more manic and over the top. It also has Dennis Hopper, John Turturo and Christopher Walken. A must see!
Movie Review: Different Rule Apply After Hours
Summary: 4 Stars
On one level, this movie looks like an oddity amongst the other films made by Martin Scorsese. It's a somewhat absurd dark comedy from the eighties that has more in common with a cult classic like "Something Wild" than it does with "Raging Bull." Supposedly, Tim Burton was originally slated to direct the film but stepped aside when Scorsese showed interest.
When you think about it, it's not that surprising that Scorsese would pick this film. Like Woody Allen and Spike Lee, a lot of his films are about New York. "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "The Age of Innocence," and "Gangs of New York," are all about the city, at least in a way, and so is "After Hours," which is set in SoHo, just a couple of miles from Wall Street, but a world away.
The story here is about a guy who hates his job. One evening he meets a girl in a coffee shop. He gets her number and calls her back the same night and they decide to meet up, even though it's almost midnight. On the way there, the guy loses all his money and when his date turns into a disaster he spend the rest of the evening trying to get home and getting himself into one ridiculous situation after another.
This movie is a bit dated, so it may be hard to appreciate the first time through, although you can certainly get a laugh out of seeing some well-known actors in different roles (Rosanna Arquette, Catherine O'hara, Linda Fiorentino, Terri Garr, Cheech and Chong.) As with most cult comedies, I think the pleasure from this one probably comes with repeated viewings as you start to notice the little things about the film. There are a lot of subtleties and nuances to it and you might forget how ridiculous the plot is and appreciate the individual scenarios and performances.
Movie Review: Fun and Unique.
Summary: 4 Stars
Viewed: 4/07
Rate: 8
4/07: Campy, weird, and unique, After Hours is a different kind of a picture yet funny at the same time. It is a good break from a typical route that many pictures are often taking. Almost a one-man show, Griffin Dunne carries this picture from start to finish with a fine supporting cast with uniformly excellent performances. Rosanna Arquette, Terri Garr, and John Heard are the three that stand out the most. It might have had a slow start, but After Hours picks up the pace with a meeting for imminent sex. It turned out to be that you had to die for it. Then the protagonist realizes that it wasn't worth it, and now he must survive to get home. It's very good stuff. After Hours is purely a Scorsese picture. Style, evidently Scorsese's, dominates the picture by taking advantage of the script while allowing the concept to be circular. It's hard to think of a similar picture with After Hours, but I do think The Big Lebowski serves one. After Hours is circular, campy, unique, and interesting. Again, Griffin Dunne gets the kudos for this one.
Movie Review: Classy black comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
A witty yuppy nightmare black comedy from Martin Scorsese - surely not, but its true. Griffin Dunne stars as Paul Hackett an office worker who is bored beyond belief. Look out for the mid 1980's computers, remember green text on black screens! Much later in the evening he meets a girl in a diner where he is drinking coffee and from there his night spirals out of control.
This is frequently funny and the cast are all good. Rossana Arquette, Linda Fiorentino and Teri Carr play the main female roles (although there are others) and they are the reason Griffin Dunne's character Paul loses control of his night out 'after hours'.
As you'd expect this is well directed by Scorsese and the only comedy he has made to date. Its a concise (93 mins) film that doesn't overstay its welcome. Sadly it doesn't seem to be available to buy separately at the moment, but it is part of the Martin Scorsese boxed set. At the right price this is worth getting.