Review of All Nighter (2017) by Kapten V — 18 Apr 2017

A workaholic father (J.K. Simmons) discovers that his daugther has disappeared, is forced to team up with her awkward ex (Emile Hirsch) to find her over the course of one colorful night.

This is probably the highest score you will see in any review for the new comedy All Nighter" because it's not special or anything... but I liked it.

It's basically just another genre movie for those who just can't get enough of Hangover" type of one crazy night" comedies, last seen as Office Christmas Party" if memory serves me right.

Compared to many usual raunchy comedies, there's no large colorful cast with famous faces cameo-ing at unexpected places. It's mostly two leading men driving around, meeting a bunch of comic relief characters ready to out-embarrass themselves and each other.

But the reliefs are mostly hits rather than misses (Jon Daly, Taran Killam, the-ever reliable Kristen Schaal from Flight of the Conchords"). Also, Simmons and Hirsch men are good carrying out the buddy comedy part with their strict and authoritative older man / lost younger stoner type schticks.

Simmons is at the center of the movie, and deservedly so, because he's offering his usual gold grade-A standard work, managing to wring the most out of even character so shallow and one-note as this must have been on paper.

He can bring funny, he can bring heartfelt, he can bring cool... every nuance of his performance is just joy to witness. Love him! Think of it as kind of his one man show, if you need another reason to watch it.

Yes, it's all been done to death before and the screenplay is actually mediocre. But the result carries itself well enough, comic timing seems spot on across the board, and it ends soon enough, in 86 minutes.

I liked the characters, I liked the performers, I was amused and had a couple of good laughs - I would not say this about every one crazy night" comedy I've seen.