After Hours Movie Review

After Hours (1985)

Rent After Hours on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Joseph Minion
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, John Heard, Cheech Marin, Catherine O'Hara, Will Patton, Bronson Pinchot
Rated: R
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Plot
An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho who he met that evening at a coffee shop.

Verdict
A regular guy ends up in irregular situations as he encounters various characters downtown. The plot keeps getting more ridiculous as Paul tries to get back home. I like that all the various characters and pieces begin to intersect near the end, and while I like the way this ends the movie just didn't engage me. Paul's encounters are random. I wanted them to tie in better to the plot.
Skip it.

Review
Paul's (Griffin Dunne) night only gets stranger when he decides to meet up with Marcy, whom he met earlier. Everything is stranger "after hours" and Paul begins to wonder what he's gotten into. Marcy has stories that just don't add up. When Paul passively calls her out, that's when his night really takes a turn.

Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette play Paul and Marcy.

I expected the movie to depict Paul as socially awkward but he's just a normal guy in for a weird night. It's an interesting look at late night New York, but Paul's encounters never quite hit the note I wanted. His encounters don't tie together like I hoped, but the culmination of all the encounters peak in just the right way. The way his night concludes hits the perfect tone. It's my favorite part of the movie.

It's comedic in a very subtle way. It's a crazy night with a lot of symmetry. Everything starts to double back on itself, but the movie doesn't do enough. The characters could have more depth, though as it is they could almost pass for realistic. I might like this more on a rewatch, the first time through I was wondering where this would go.