After Hours

Rating:
Summary: In my top 5 favorite films / Totally original script
Review: A funny black comedy set in Manhatten. I remeber as a kid watching this film on movie channel in the 80's and being mesmerized by the quirky characters. The main story is an average guy looking for romance in r Manhatten and for one night can't seem to make it back to his apartment. He goes out for a late night coffee at a diner meets Rosanna Arquette & from there encounters all these wacky characters in west village while trying to get back home. The script is amazing and totally original. This is character driven you don't forget the people in this movie Teri Garr as a crazy lonely monkey obsessed nuerotic waitress. Linda Fiorentino as an underground paper machute artist. John Heard as a paraniod bar owner. Griffin Dunne is a hilarious lead character who gets himself in all these oddball situations from one minute to the next. After refusing Teri Garr's advances he ends up having a mob after him. He ducks into an underground night club puts Peggy Lee's "Is that all there is" in the juke box and dances with a lonely lady who comes to his rescue at the end in a very bizarre way. One of my favorites films of all time. This is a must see original Scorsese movie one can't beat the surreal originality of this script.

Rating:
Summary: Scorsese's Masterpiece.
Review: I remember seeing this movie on cable in 1987, and I remember thinking that it was great. I didn't even realize it was Scorsese at the time. Since then this film has become one of my favorites. A relatively unknown actor, Griffin Dunne, is the lead character of this midnight movie. It's basically the night in the life of your average pencil pusher. What happens to him in one night is hilarious. A dark comedy by Scorsese this is bound to be, and already is a classic. Most people haven't seen this film, but I think it's a must have for any movie collector. Unfortunately, it's still not available at this time on DVD. Soon, I hope. Look for great eccentric appearances by Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, John Heard and Cheech and Chong (their last film appearance together).

Rating:
Summary: Warped Wizard of Oz!!!
Review: Not only is "After Hours" my favorite Scorsese film, but it's also the most twisted riff on "The Wizard of Oz" ever filmed. A nebbishy office worker hits on a rather wild-looking gal in a coffee shop one night. She gives him her phone number and invites him to come up and see her some time. Skittish at first, boredom overcomes his objections, and he takes her up on it. Then the fun begins...every awful thing that could happen to this guy (and then some!) does. Eventually, like Dorothy, all he really wants to do is escape from this nightmare and go home, but fate conspires against him there, too. This is an extremely dark comedy, not for everyone, but if you're in the right mood, you'll love it. Griffin Dunne has never been funnier, or Scorsese's direction more frantically energetic. "After Hours" also features interesting cameos by Cheech and Chong, Catharine O'Hara, Linda Fiorentino, Terri Garr, and John Heard. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Modern-Day Book of Job
Review: Right now I just finished watching 'After Hours,' a film that
makes me somewhat home- and timesick for Soho and the Village in the late 80s. Griffin Dunne is absolutely perfect as the hapless everyguy, and I love the supporting cast, esp. Teri Garr, Linda Fiorentino and Catherine O'Hara (who is great in everything she's in, so long as she plays annoying people; esp. 'Best in Show.') There is a sick poetic justice to 'After Hours,' and is the darkest of black comedies I've seen yet. It's not one of Scorsese's better known movies, and along with 'The King of Comedy,' it is the only comedy I've known Scorsese to have directed. But, it is a small gem and you can tell a New Yorker made it. Only a New Yorker can understand the horror of being stalked by a vigilante mob, spearheaded by a Mr. Softee ice cream truck!!!! The pace of the movie is rapid-fire, too. Sort of like the cadence of Scorsese's voice when he's excited (which is all the time). I remember when it came out, it did not do boffo box office because, as one friend told me, "It's too depressing and negative for a comedy!" I think he missed the point.

Rating:
Summary: This review is for Amazon's impeccable memory
Review: When I searched for this film two years ago Amazon.com informed me that it wasn't available on dvd, but if I wanted they'd send me an email when it became available. And now, two years later, they've sent me that email! I've had friends tell me that they'll call me back in five minutes and they forget to do it, but Amazon.com, after two freaking years, remembers to get back to me about this obscure, hard-to-find movie. This blows my mind.

5 stars to Amazon, and maybe I'll get around to watching "After Hours" some day.