Review of After Hours (1985) by Martin S — 04 Feb 2011

Let me just start this off by saying that After Hours is one of my favorite films. Ever. It's one of those films that you just watch over and over and over and over again. It never gets old. It's a Martin Scorsese picture about a guy named Paul (brilliantly played by Griffin Dunne). Paul has the worst night of his entire life, and we're along for the ride. This is a fairly dark comedy, in the sense that if the stuff that is happening to Paul in this film were to happen to you or me, we would have a nervous breakdown. Bad luck doesn't even begin to describe it. But since we're watching this stuff happen to Paul, it's absolutely hilarious.

After Hours is one of those films that is so consistently entertaining, that it's almost distracting. There's not one dull moment here. Paul is always getting into some sort of trouble. Some of the coincidences presented are extremely outlandish, but that's what's fun about it. At every possible instance, the worst thing that could possibly happen to Paul, does. And it's almost always hilarious. You may feel bad about some of the things you're laughing about here. Suicide and murder both play into some of the film biggest laughs. This isn't an unlikable film though. It's surprisingly light-hearted, when you think about some of the subject matter. And that likability comes from Paul.

Paul is a great character. One of my favorites in film. He's pretty much an everyman, but he's a character. Most "everyman" characters in films come off as a sort of blank slate. Someone that lets the events of the film completely shape who they become by the end. That isn't the case here. Paul is a person. He meets a girl at a coffeehouse, and later on he calls and she wants him to come over. And just like that, he has initiated the launch sequence for the worst night of his entire life (and probably yours, if you were him). It's a pleasure to watch Paul deal with the constant situations that come up. He reacts like a normal person would to them. That's what makes it so fun.

Martin Scorsese's direction is, as usual, flawless. He's doing a pseudo-Hitchcock thing with this film, that really works. The camera swooping around and such. He gives the film such a brilliant sense of place. As Paul is running, around SoHo like a madman, going from place to place, you begin to feel like you could navigate your way around there. You know which way he came from and where he's going before the scene even changes. Not many directors can achieve that in a film.

A wonderful script, a wonderful cast of characters, and a wonderful energy that you just don't see in films anymore. It's hilarious, dark, and pure genius. I highly, HIGHLY recommend you seek out this gem.