After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

An ex-boxer is drifting around after escaping from the mental hospital. He meets a widow who convinces him to help fix up the neglected estate her ex-husband left. Her Uncle talks them both... See full summary »

Director:

James Foley

Writers:

Jim Thompson (novel), Robert Redlin (screenplay)

Stars:

Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, Bruce Dern

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jason Patric	...	Kevin 'kid' Collins
Rocky Giordani	...	Bert
Rachel Ward	...	Fay Anderson
Bruce Dern	...	Garrett "Uncle Bud" Stoker
Tom Wagner	...	Counterman
Mike Hagerty	...	Truck Driver (as Michael G. Hagerty)
James E. Bowen Jr.	...	Second Driver
George Dickerson	...	Doc Goldman
Napoleon Walls	...	Boxing Referee
Corey Carrier	...	Jack
Jeanie Moore	...	Nanny
James Cotton	...	Charlie
Burke Byrnes	...	Cop
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vincent Mazella Jr.	...	Flashback Fighter (as Vince Mazzella Jr.)
Thomas Wagner

Storyline

An ex-boxer is drifting around after escaping from the mental hospital. He meets a widow who convinces him to help fix up the neglected estate her ex-husband left. Her Uncle talks them both into helping kidnap a rich boy for ransom money, and the ex-fighter must make decisions about his loyalties and what is right.

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Plot Keywords:

widow | self sacrifice | tragedy | tragic hero | distrust | 

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Taglines:

Seduced beyond the limits of deception. Betrayed beyond the limits of desire.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Depois do anoitecer, querida

Filming Locations:

Mecca, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,678,414

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avenue Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

When Bruce Dern and Jason Patric are sitting in the car looking at the mansion, about 30 minutes into the movie, the reflection of a crew member is visible in the chrome of the driver side rear view mirror.

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Quotes

Kevin 'kid' Collins: [voiceover] We sat there for another half hour or so, and he was talking every minute of it. The words poured out of his mouth, and they didn't mean a thing to me. They were just a lot of noises coming from a sickish-looking face. What other people said had never meant a thing to him, and now it was his turn. Now he was meaningless and what he said was meaningless.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Contact/This World, Then the Fireworks/A Simple Wish/4 Little Girls/The Big Sleep/Shall We Dance? (1997)

User Reviews

a near-flawless adaptation

The first of two Jim Thompson adaptations released in 1990 (the other being the more well-known GRIFTERS), AFTER DARK has all of Thompson's hallmarks: dangerous women, the confidence game, and characters that are either not as dim as others suspect them of being, or not as harmless.

Jason Patric is superb as a former boxer disqualified from the sport for life due to an incident in the ring (director James Foley uses RAGING BULL-esquire sequences to flesh out the back story) and the too-little-seen Rachel Ward also delivers a great performance. But Bruce Dern is the film's secret weapon: his sweet-talking grifter Uncle Bud subtly commands each of his scenes.

there's almost no comic relief in this film, so watch it prepared to be sucked into the void.