The Night We Never Met (1993)

Brian, painter Ellen and chef Sam timeshare an apartment on different days. A shift on Mon/Wednesdays causes mistaken identity as Ellen and Sam have never met but leave notes, food etc. behind for each other.

Director:

Warren Leight

Writer:

Warren Leight

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Annabella Sciorra

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Broderick	...	Sam Lester
Annabella Sciorra	...	Ellen Holder
Tim Guinee	...	Kenneth
Michelle Hurst	...	Leslie
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson	...	Inga
Brooke Smith	...	Catha
Mary B. McCann	...	Yogurt-Eating Date
Naomi Campbell	...	French Cheese Shopper
Michael Mastro	...	Triple Creme Cheese Shopper (as Michael Mastrototaro)
Katharine Houghton	...	Less / More Cheese Lady
Mary Fulham	...	I'm Double Parked Lady
Kathryn Rossetter	...	Excuse Me Shopper
Steven Goldstein	...	3rd Cheese Man
Catherine Lloyd Burns	...	Deli Customer
Bitty Schram	...	Pharmacy Clerk

Storyline

Sam has a problem with his roommates: they are disgusting, and don't seem to share his views on responsibility, privacy, and basic hygiene. Such is his discomfort with his living arrangements that he agrees to share the occupancy of another flat: he gets two nights a week, the owner (a sleazy frat-boy yuppie named Brian, soon to be married) and Ellen (a would-be painter seeking relief from her boring marriage) each get their separate nights in the flat. Things go extremely well until Sam and Brian swap nights without telling Ellen, who attributes the "nice" things that happen around the place to the slob Brian, while berating the responsible Sam for his hedonistic lifestyle.

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Plot Keywords:

roommate | cheese shop | dominatrix | time share | new york city | 

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Taglines:

A comedy with room for romance.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The occupations of each characters are: Sam (Cook/Food Specialist at Dean & DeLuca), Ellen (A dental assistant) and Brian (Stockbroker).

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Quotes

Inga: You are welcome to me!

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Splitting Heirs/Sidekicks/Three of Hearts/Bound by Honor/The Night We Never Met (1993)

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Soundtracks

Bouncin' Back
Performed by Robert Cray
Courtesy of Mercury Records
By Arrangement with Polygram Special Markets
Written by Dennis Walker
Robishon Publishing, Adm. by Bug Publishing

User Reviews

Good actors playing great characters

Great performances highlight this small story, which has a great hook and some forgivable flaws. The main themes of communication and isolation are given time to flesh themselves out in three separate stories that center around a shared apartment. I like the pacing in this film, it's slow enough to wrap itself around the story, but not so slow as to drag.

The three main female characters are all good, especially Tripplehorn as Pastel, the avant-garde artist and pseudo girlfriend of Broderick. I've never seen her do any better with a character. Broderick has a curious role to play as a man who is tolerant of others up to a point (like his view of Sciorra's illogical behavior), but still has the serenity to offer marital advice to a woman who has just put him through a frustrating case of coitus interruptus. Sciorra's character is more problematic - she has a definite fear-aggression streak that gets tempered somewhat by the end, but there's also a good deal of "tough chick" bravado in her performance that makes it interesting.

I wasn't completely convinced by all of the transformations in the final ten minutes of the movie, but it ties things up neatly enough so you don't feel cheated and leaves enough room for the characters to grow further after the final shot.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night We Never Met

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$911,736, 2 May 1993

Gross USA:

$1,884,814

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,884,814

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Tribeca Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1