Review of Into the Night (2002) by Jude P — 07 Feb 2013

Directed by John Landis, who had not long come off the success of Trading Places (1983), but was in the middle of legal action over what happened on Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). This black comedy-drama could have been the beginning of a new phase in Landis' career, a more mature one.

That didn't happen, but it's a twisty film with some good performances and it's well paced too. Ed Okun (Jeff Goldblum) is an insomniac, his life is a mess, and his wife Ellen (Stacey Pickren) is cheating on him, despite reassurances from his best friend and co-worker Herb (Dan Aykroyd).

One night, Ed still can't sleep, so he goes for a drive, and ends up at Los Angeles Airport, where Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer) lands on the bonnet of his car, being chased by Iranians. It turns out she's a jewel smuggler, who has stolen jewelry from the Shah of Iran, and there's a quartet of hitmen on her tail, as well as British assassin Colin Morris (David Bowie).

Now Ed and Diana have to stay one step ahead of the assassins and hitmen who want to get Diana, while Ed just wants to sleep. It's a very amusing film, with a soundtrack of songs by B.B. King, as well as loads of cameos from directors, (which is Landis' trademark).

But the film has a mysterious quality to it, making Los Angeles at night look exotic and exciting. Landis should have done more like this.