After Hours (1985)

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writer:

Joseph Minion (written by)

Release Date:

13 September 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

What is the very worst night you ever had...? [UK Video]

Plot:

An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho whom he met that evening at a coffee shop.

Plot Keywords:

Biker | One Night | Dermatological Cream | Urban Nightmare | Henry Miller

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Griffin Dunne	...	Paul Hackett
Rosanna Arquette	...	Marcy Franklin
Verna Bloom	...	June
Tommy Chong	...	Pepe (as Thomas Chong)
Linda Fiorentino	...	Kiki Bridges
Teri Garr	...	Julie
John Heard	...	Thomas 'Tom' Schorr
Cheech Marin	...	Neil
Catherine O'Hara	...	Gail
Dick Miller	...	Diner Waiter (Pete)
Will Patton	...	Horst
Robert Plunket	...	Street Pickup
Bronson Pinchot	...	Lloyd
Rocco Sisto	...	Coffee Shop Cashier
Larry Block	...	Taxi Driver

Also Known As:

A Night in SoHo (USA) (working title)
Lies (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Italy:VM14 | Peru:18 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

128 Spring Street, Soho, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Double Play

Trivia:

This is the only film by Martin Scorsese to be released on a Friday the 13th, long considered to be an unlucky day for studios to release films.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Neil and Pepe flee from Paul in the van (the first time), the engine can be heard revving as they speed away although the brake lights are on.

Quotes:

[after sampling one of Marcy's joints]
Paul Hackett: What type of pot is this?
Marcy: Colombian.
Paul Hackett: That's a lie.
Marcy: What?
Paul Hackett: This isn't Colombian. I don't even think it's pot.
Marcy: That's what the guy who sold it to me said it was...
Paul Hackett: Well, the guy who sold it to you is a liar. So are you.
Marcy: Don't get upset, I just won't buy it from him anymore. Are you all right?
Paul Hackett: Where are those Plaster of Paris paperweights, anyway? I mean, that's what I came down here to see in the first place. Well, that's not entirely true, I came to see you, but where are the paperweights? That's what I wanna see now!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Invasion of the Scream Queens (1992)

Soundtrack:

En La Cueva

A unique experience.

To get an understanding of the caliber film we're dealing with, you have to imagine some of the finest elements of other films being wound into a tight 95 minute package and directed by the incomparable Martin Scorsese. After Hours reminds this critic in many ways of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. But somehow it seems to be about the best elements of that film. Our film deals with a mild-mannered Manhattan office worker taking a late night trip to the Soho district to meet up with a beautiful woman he first encountered earlier in the evening. So, much like with Tom Cruise in EWS, we have a protagonist searching for love in a world completely foreign to him. But instead of a never ending and overly talky film, we get a tightly wound and much better paced film from Scorsese. When the film does slow down for conversations, the ones we're treated to are comparable to the best Tarantino ever wrote for any of his films. Fortunately we don't get too many of them, like we would in a Tarantino film, however.

Griffin Dunne plays Paul Hackett, who is bound and determined to hook up with Marcy (Rosanne Arquette) whom he met in a restaurant earlier that evening. Once he makes it to Soho, Paul quickly realizes this spur-of-the-moment rendezvous may have been a terrible idea. Apparently Soho is (or was in 1985) a macabre place full of eccentric artists, bondage enthusiasts, and vigilante mobs made up of mostly gay people. Not only does Paul fail to score with Marcy, he ends up being stranded in the neighborhood with no money to get home, and being blamed for several apartment break-ins by a crowd that wants his blood! Every place or person he turns to for help seems to get him deeper and deeper into danger. There are all kinds of famous or soon to be famous people popping up in little roles here and there. Will Patton as a leather clad bondage enthusiast may be the most odd. Also look for Scorsese in a nightclub sporting a beard and shining a spotlight down on the rowdy patrons.

Unlike many Scorsese films, this one does not rely much at all on violence to get the point of danger across. I believe there is only one violent death, and the victim is not a main character. But in true Scorcese form, the scene produces a laugh! More than anything else, this film has a claustrophobic feeling. It's as if the world is crumbling all around Paul Hackett, and the next door he walks through may be his last. By the final fifteen minutes, he finds himself in the apartment of a gay man he picks on the street. To the man's obvious disappointment, Hackett simply wants someone to tell his story to. Before the scene has any type of logical conclusion, Hackett finds himself back on the street running for his life once again. His momentary attempt at finding compassion shattered in the blink of an eye. The whole film is kind of like that.

After Hours may not be for all tastes, but this critic first saw it back in junior high and never forgot what a treasure it is. 10 of 10 stars.

The Hound.