moonspinner55 Review of After Hours

After Hours (I) (1985)

Agonizing or brilliant, "After Hours" doesn't leave much middle ground...

[5/10 · 19 September 2006]

Director Martin Scorsese doing coldly-cutting comedy--sort of like a prankster with a joy-buzzer that really zaps you. The effect is both rude and sadistic...yet some may find irony in this low-ball humor. Luckless Griffin Dunne chances to meet cute flake Rosanna Arquette one night in New York City, but a follow-up date is fraught with calamities, and characters apparently just sprung from a nuthouse. The attractive supporting performers (including Teri Garr, Linda Fiorentino, John Heard, Thomas Chong and Cheech Marin) are not used to balance out the craziness in the material with their star-personas; everyone on-screen is just a little bit battier than the ones who came before, and once you've become attuned to the movie's intentionally-bumpy rhythm (the cinematic equivalent of Bumper Cars), the rest of the picture can be a very funny lark. However, with so many ciphers on display, and absolutely no mercy shown from our director, I was too aware of the material as "gag comedy". It's never less than well-done, and has an amazing full-circle finish, but there's nothing substantial about "After Hours". All the requisite Scorsese style is wasted, really, on piffle. ** from ****