 | They Only Come Out At Night...
rating: 5
AFTER HOURS is one of those wonderfully weird movies that I can watch again and again. I have loved Martin Scorsese ever since BOXCAR BERTHA, and consider him to be a bloody genius. With HOURS, he takes us on a late-night tour of a nightmare NYC, a plunge into madness w/ hilarious twists and memorably odd characters. Griffin Dunne (An American Werewolf In London) plays a man trapped in a dull, seemingly pointless job who leaves work one evening, unaware that fate is about to toss him headlong into a bizarre, exhileratingly dangerous underworld. A world populated w/ neurotics, psychotics, thieves, vigilante mobs, and -gulp!- artists! Played to the hilt by the likes of Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction), Teri Garr (Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Young Frankenstein), John Heard (CHUD), Verna Bloom (Animal House), and Cheech and Chong, these night-people are never boring. If you enjoy semi-dark, surreal stuff like THE OUT OF TOWNERS (w/ Jack Lemon), THE TRIAL (w/ Anthony Perkins), or even VAMP (w/ Grace Jones), then AFTER HOURS will be a thrill...
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I had a night like this..... I'm from Chicago
rating: 5
I must say this is one of my top 10 favorite films. Every time I have a bad day, I watch After Hours, and somehow feel better. Anyway, the reason Im writting this, is I was wondering if there is a music genius out there somewhere, who would know how I could get my hands on the music soundtrack used for this film. Even just the list of songs/artists. I've looked everywhere, and dont believe it exists. I would however be willing to buy each cd seperately and put my own collection together. Call me crazy, but I love the movie as well as the music. Any help is gretly appreciated! Signed, that crazy behive chick from Chicago.
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You hope the night (and the movie) never ends
rating: 5
This film has been around for a while (decades), but this was my first viewing. Super!
A guy with a hum drum office job crosses paths with a strange chick in a late night cafe. He accepts a rendezvous invitation . . . and the night in SoHo (Manhatten) takes off. Bizarre people. Bizarre circumstances. A surreal package.
Well written and well executed. MUCH fun and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. A "time check" is slipped into the story occasionally, and alas, dawn finally nears. Very different and very cool.
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One of Martin Scorsese's BEST...
rating: 5
Martin Scorsese has, over time, given us so much. From his earliest days to present. Not that all his films were/are great, as were/are those of any other film directors of his era or any other. The difference here is that in this film, Scorsese tackles comedy, which went and generally goes against his overall filmmaker grain. This is his other main humorous masterpiece film, along with his black comedy "King of Comedy," which as much or more than equals "After Hours," but is much less black and nightmarish than this. When it comes down to it, unlike King of Comedy (full of a subtle, more nervous humor), After Hours, while consistently providing numerous moments of laugh out loud craziness, is more of a nightmare comedy than a black one. Especially upon repeated viewings. Because hidden within this broad comedy are simply tons of individual scene oddities and unforgettable moments. In short, this is King of Comedy gone Twilight Zone, but that's all a part of its charm and overall success. While nothing seen approaches unreasonable "yeah, right" suspensions of disbelief, through Griffin Dunne's portrayal of "Paul," a NYC word processor circa 80's green screen computer monitors, and pretty much a normal guy, the audience is from the first moments on, easily able to identify with him. And that's the secret of this film's brilliance.
One night, bored with switching cable stations, he ventures out into the NYC night rather late, and on a "school night" (he has to work the next day), and while reading a worn novel in a late-night diner, is introduced to an attractive girl (Rosanna Arquette), Marcie. It is a chance and strange meeting, but romance-hungry Paul eventually jumps at the chance to meet up with Marcie later in the "after hours" and soon finds his decision the beginning of a true comic-nightmare series of events, all unforseen.
Traveling down to the Soho district in the middle of the night, full of nuts like Teri Garr, Linda Fiorentino, among many others, for an everyman like Paul, his rash initial decision begins a series of more and more bizarre events and circumstances, and scene upon scene of absolute genius in their overall execution, timing, and meaning. Throughout the film, virtually every scene and shot seems to belong and there is absolutely no filler of any kind here.
One of the most common nightmares of common folk consist of "obstacles." Whereas one is trying to complete something, or get somewhere, or just end the at-times seemingly hopeless task at hand, to just wake up from the nightmare, back in your home, in your bed, and wake up. Trouble is, for Paul, his strange journey extends throughout almost the entire length of the film, which makes this a true existential and metaphysical classic.
What's so great about this film is how it slowly goes from the absurd and nightmarish step by step, until by the end, Paul's everyday nightmare of his job is his wake up call, and the film comes full circle. Full of memorable scenes and superb directorial touches, and lots of laughs, even if some may be just too close to home and reality to lay within the fully comfortable, "After Hours" is a movie that if you get into it within the first 20-30 minutes, you will stick with it till the end because the whole premise is just so edge-of-seat compelling. It is also unique in the history of all great films in that nearly every shot and scene is just about perfect.
Scorsese throws in the kitchen sink here and proves his directorial genius at every twist and turn, utilizing various creative insider moments throughout. Throughout, there is also a wonderful feeling of being stuck in some temporal hell, where some moments drag on and some are over in an instant. Just like any such "dream."
This is a film to be viewed again and again, if for no other reason than to break down and understand the broader and quite deep implications of what is constantly entertaining and even enlightening, for very different reasons. Paul (Griffin Dunne) is the center of the film, and the viewer's center as well, as we see the comic, nightmarish, series of improbable but very believable in a way happenings, through his perspective. But that is more than enough, given the multitude of strange characters and situations he finds himself in, when all he really just wanted to do was "maybe get out of his apartment for awhile, maybe meet a nice girl, and how he eventually seemed to have to DIE FOR IT???!!!" One of many highlight moments of simply a great film.
There are so many such moments, they are impossible to go into but another of my faves is Paul, in the middle of a NYC Soho neighborhood dark night "after hours" street, falling to his knees in a prayer to God with the line, "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, I'M JUST A WORD PROCESSOR!!!" Darkly, nervously, right on and laugh out loud funny. And look fast for Scorcese appearing ala-Hitchcock in the film as the guy shining the spotlights from above in the punk rock club scene, on Soho "Mohawk" night.
By all means, one of Scorsese's best, like his "King Of Comedy", not to be missed by any true black/nightmare comedy film fan from one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. If you like/love this, you'll love "King of Comedy" and vica versa.
Cheech and Chong's last major film as a team. Teri Garr and the rat trap surrounded bedroom. Surrender Dorothy! So many moments, so little time. A dark comic gem from beginning to end.
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Classy black comedy
rating: 4
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.
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