1-800-Hot-Nite (2022) User Reviews

Low budget is not the problem, script is

[jnbonicar · 3/10 · 3 September 2022]

Watched at the Deauville Film Festival. A coming-of-age stay about 3 LA teens, CONGRATS to Dallas, Garrison and Mylen, their performances are awesome. Loved their acting especially Garrison and Dallas, and Mylen was great too. But the biggest problem here is that the movie lacks a solid script, the films is an addition of scenes and situations in LA where our 3 heroes are lost, but there's no really involvement, so no emotion, identification and there is not a clear objective for the kids (for instance, there's one very strong in "Stand by me"). This makes the film slow and unclear, about its intentions.

In addition, there are holes, unrealistic, unnatural situations and character's behaviors, especially the phone operator's behavior is not realistic. The dark/orange cinematography and lighting is great in some scenes, and full of mistakes in others. For instance, at some point the kid is sitting in a very dark room with no light, and talking to a woman, who is lit as if the room was full of lights, it could have been better. There are similar light problems throughout the film.

It just could have been better, the movie could have deserved a 6-8/10, we can feel how passionate the crew is, but it definitely a much better script.

Poorly written and directed, but some of the acting is decent

[carla_laurent · 2/10 · 6 September 2022]

1-800-HOTNITE is a bad movie, but at least it is an innocent badness, as the filmmakers, financiers and producers behind it that allowed this dud to move forward seem to be clueless about the basics of story telling, mis-en-scene, and movie making.

We were looking forward to this film as traditionally the films at Deauville are of a certain high standard having premiered at other top-tier festivals prior to their Deauville stop. But Deauville for some reason made an exception here by choosing a film that is poorly written and directed, only made somewhat tolerable by up and coming Dallas Young who plays Tommy.

In 1-800-HOT-NITE, Tommy loses his father to a drug raid and then embarks on a night of improbable adventure that leaves the viewer feeling bored and frustrated. The story goes nowhere so it is hard to pay attention throughout but I did my best to hang in there till the end.

Writer and Director Nick Richey makes a lot of errors. For starters my husband and I still can't tell if the film is set in the 80's , 90's or in modern times because the lead character makes calls from old American telephone booths and corded land lines, and interacts with police driving old police cars, but the entire film feels like it is set at a time when phone booths are obsolete and everyone has a cell phone.

The dialog is either boring or pointless. For example, the characters comment on each other's clothes with great emphasis even though there is absolutely nothing remarkable about their clothes. Perhaps the only line of dialog that is compelling in the film is it's title "1-800-HOT-NITE" as it sort of hooked us to check it out.

1-800-HOT-NITE has the appearance of an amateur film that was made with dialog improvisation on set after characters are placed in situations that are unnatural. Tommy decides to collect money for some paper route (hello 90's again! Or maybe even 70's!) late at night and in cash, something that would most likely lead to nothing, but in Richey's thoughtless script, this decision by Tommy triggers the most improbable responses from other characters who apparently are on Tommy's paper route that he somehow walks to door to door late into the night.

Are all these paper route characters all in one city block readily available to open their doors to Tommy to give him cash for a paper route after midnight? Or is Tommy able to teleport himself from one door to the next? I suppose any unbelievable occurrence is possible with a script that has no sense of time or place.

I got conned into watching this terrible film

[conrad_west · 2/10 · 5 November 2022]

I got conned into watching 1-800-Hot-Nite by the Director himself who gets a 10/10 for being a kick ass hype man and sales man for his terrible film. I met him at a film festival and he had me sold on this 1-800 film and his abilities as a filmmaker which I would actually rank very poorly now that I have seen the work.

But he got me as I purchased this film on digital based on his hyping it and telling me how it got into some prestigious Euro festival which now I suspect may not even be true or if it did get it in it was possibly because the Director conned someone there too.

It has a 90's vibe which I usually dig but it seems like it is also in modern times I don't know if I missed something or it is just another terrible problem in this film. The cast is pretty weak but it could have been the scripting as they also are forced to say pointless lines in constantly contrived narrative which lacks a focus. I mean really this film is about nothing and is plain boring I am sorry to say.

To be fair the actor who plays the main kid is actually pretty good at times and the woman in the car seems to be a pro actress but the rest are kind of forgettable.

I just felt like I got cheated out of my time more than money honestly, and I really hope no one else gets conned into watching this film. This Director either has no shame or he truly has no idea what a good script and good film-making is.

Just all in all bad for indy film when schlock like this gets pushed on the consumer, bad for the distributor selling this schlock and bad for the festivals showing this schlock.

1-800-hot-poop

[talllwoood13 · 2/10 · 15 September 2023]

The child actors aren't horrible, they could have done much worst. I guess the word is believable. However the script is just dull. NOTHING happens in this movie. The lead may learn a lesson or two but this is just a really poorly made knock off of Super Bad. However Super Bad will actually get you to laugh and has memorable characters people still quote or remember 15+ years later.

Does the kid get his jersey back? Nope - the tough boy could have learned a lesson in standing up for himself from the bigger boys or got some redemption.

Does Tommy be friends with O'Neil or whatever the white kid with the sweet pair of Timberlands on after he kisses a girl he's into .. nope as far as we know they still hate each other.

Do we know why the father got arrested - hahah of course not! Cops are just being cops TEE HEE.

Does Tommy and his friends go back and get their $40 - no

Seriously why even have the phone operator make an appearance. There was some life lessons. Don't be like her or whatever as it looks like she made a lot of bad choices to get to where she was and Tommy should be lucky he has people around him who are his friends and has people who love him.

This movie is the epitome of most "influencers" on social media recommending a crappy or inferior product or app that they wouldn't use in a million years. They hype it up saying how great it is and then when you use said product it's just snake oil and or going right in the garbage bin.

A Meaningful Story.

[Tri-State_Skater · 9/10 · 31 August 2023]

This was like the boy version of Thirteen or Speak, but for the current generation. I was born in 1993, so it's been a long time since middle school. I still remembered how it was watching the new generation, and I felt so bad for kids as they suffered physical abuse and crazy adults.

This film is perfect for anyone who likes gritty realistic films. It's definitely about kids of today, but they made it timeless in a way too. It reminded me of my time, even if I was in suburbia, not a city.

Parents should watch this with their kids, even if they live a completely different life. So many kids suffer in situations like this.

the wow...

[ops-52535 · 10/10 · 5 November 2022]

Factor of this film is the KIDS, wow, they are just marvellous in their acts.a very urbanized, dire straits dramamovie, about a kid not even teenager yet, fleeing to the streets, just because being born into a family that strives, having police on his back (sounds like a clash song) cause momma and daddy deals vicodine and the children care services is the next in line...but the bold kid wont!!

I was stunned by the streetwiseness of these kids, the story take so many twist and turns, it covers so many aspects of life and shows to some extent the socialrealism of life in a careful but still heartbroken way. The cast delivers brilliantly, the plotpace is breathtaking, and the grips and takes made by the director and its crew at this production is just outta this world

in real life there would have been 15 patrols searching for this kid, i know, but watch it for the love and hopes that the main caracter wants and needs. Its not a film for the youngest kids, but could be considered as a PG-7 rating, because everything here is bloodfree and explainable for the adolescent.

Its not oscarworthy, but its full of talent on both sides. Bravissimo thinks the grumpy old man.

Great coming of age film

[shayna-65557 · 10/10 · 8 September 2022]

Growing up isn't always a straight path, and some are forced to grow up sooner than others. The young characters in this film were forced to deal with heavy issues and grow up in front of our eyes. The script is deft at blending the very real lightness that can come with being a kid, with the heavy realities of their home lives. You believe their journey and the emotions are palpable. The actors are incredible and three boys have a chemistry that is so fun to watch. Ali Richey as Ava, portrayed a woman who has lived a hard life but still has a soft side. Her connection with Tommy (played by Dallas Young), starts as pure comedy. As in real life, however, you never know who will be there when you need it. Watching their connection was powerful. This film is well acted and writing/directing from Nick Richey demonstrates incredible talent! This was a powerful film with a lot of passion behind it. Recommend highly!

A uniquely written and fantastically performed coming of age

[sszwqgmpb · 10/10 · 7 September 2022]

This coming of age movie following three young boys during a night of escape is a fun and many times difficult story of innocence, boyhood, and troublesome circumstances.

One thing that makes the movie so captivating is that the storyline and the kids' encounters are closely based on real life experiences that the director had gone through himself, as a teenager.

From getting into disagreements with close friends and tricking paper route customers into paying them, to running into some really creepy characters and running away from police, the boys' adventure unfolds from a night of innocent mischief to real and scary realities of growing up.

The unexpected twist of the phone operator's purpose in the film adds another layer of humanity to the characters, including the operator herself (someone who in real life, can be dehumanized by nature).

Each cast member did a splendid job portraying their characters, and the director's heart is definitely seen throughout the movie. A must see! Watch it a second time and you'll catch many things you may have missed the first time around!

90s nostalgia

[devilsrejexxts · 10/10 · 16 November 2022]

I didn't expect this movie to be that good , honestly I didn't understand the low ratings but as a kid this was a great coming of age , the script wasn't a problem , I felt this was a kid having learning about the real world in a hard way .. at first I thought it was going to be a comedy ( like super bad American pie etc etc ) but no it was more of David Clark's ( kids) not as vulgar but that same type of feel ... as a kid you think you have the answers and think life hits one way but in reality it doesn't ... live is hard , in one night one little boy learns almost every life lesson you can learn in a life time , friends , love, people , adults and cold reality. I really enjoyed this movie in my opinion it's something new compared to what's been coming out lately.

This film is proof that Hollywood standards are not always necessary to enjoy a good film.

[gkxcxg · 8/10 · 22 October 2022]

Dallas Dupree Young shines in this inner city Coming-of-age film. Dallas (Tommy), a youth growing up in a one parent household, that has many issues, finds himself at odds with child services, when his single parent father is busted by a law enforcement raid. Tommy's discovery of this traumatic reality sends him running from the authorities, which teams him up with two unlikely accomplices, his two neighboring friends. Their late night romp throughout the storyline has plenty of intriguing, dramatic, and laughable moments throughout. I do admit that it takes a predictable turn near the end, but has a nice ending that surprisingly ties it all together...from Tommy's perspective. I just watched this tonight at the Twin Cities Film Festival, and consider it a welcoming cinematographic surprise!