Review: Into the Night

Insomniac aerospace engineer Jeff Goldblum goes home early from work one day and finds out his wife is having an affair. That night, he drives off to LAX airport (don’t ask why, but co-worker Dan Aykroyd suggests it to him) and is surprised when Michelle Pfeiffer randomly gets into his car and tells him to drive, as four bearded Middle Eastern men are in hot pursuit. He instinctively does as she demands (besides, what else is he gonna do tonight?), and quickly learns that Pfeiffer is an occasional jewel smuggler, and as Goldblum finds out throughout the course of the night, lots of assorted crims and dangerous types are after her, including a British-accented assassin (David Bowie!). Richard Farnsworth plays Pfeiffer’s ex-lover who is married to the cold Vera Miles. The previously bored Goldblum is about to get some excitement in his life for once, if perhaps not the kind he was craving. Other famous cameos include Jim Henson on the phone at a casino, Jonathan Lynn as an English tailor, and Paul Bartel as a doorman, among many others. That’s Michelle’s sister Deedee Pfeiffer in a bit part as a hooker, whilst Kathryn Harrold plays a friend of Pfeiffer’s.

 

A pretty big flop from director John Landis (“The Blues Brothers”, “Trading Places”, “Spies Like Us”), whose films could usually be claimed to be audience favourites, if not critical darlings (“Three Amigos!” springs to mind. Critics hate it, everyone my age loves it). Scripted by co-producer Ron Koslow (the Sharon Stone prison flick “Last Dance”), this 1985 romantic-comedy flick actually isn’t without merit. Its big problem is that it’s got no damn laughs in it, just about. That’s pretty important for a comedy, but if you look to the comedies of say pre-1960, even some of the best weren’t exactly gut-busters. So perhaps Landis was looking to make something more akin to the comedies of old than say “Trading Places” or “The Blues Brothers”. Even then, though, it’s still not a very good film and I can see why it’s not very well-remembered today, despite a lot of familiar faces and names. Let’s just say it’s a good thing “Spies Like Us” came out the same year to remind us that Landis is indeed a good director of comedy. That film is an unheralded classic in my view.

 

Jeff Goldblum is immediately fascinating here simply by being Jeff Goldblum in all his wonderful weirdness. He’s well-cast as an insomniac, and although not a natural comedian per se, he has been very funny in movies before (“The Big Chill”) and since (“Jurassic Park”), so I won’t level any blame at him. His is mostly a reactionary role, and on that level he’s certainly interesting to watch him watch all the craziness going on around him. He and Dan Aykroyd also make for an interesting pair of co-workers early on, so it’s a shame the latter just has a cameo as a favour no doubt, to Landis. There might’ve been something funny to explore in that dynamic, I think. It’s funny when he says ‘I feel weird, like I’m from another planet or something’, not just because the otherworldly Jeff Goldblum (“Earth Girls Are Easy”) is the one saying it in his inimitable delivery, but he’s saying it to Beldar Conehead himself, Dan Aykroyd.

 

The film looks terrific as shot by Robert Paynter (“Superman II”, “An American Werewolf in London”, “Spies Like Us”), who is one of many cameos in the film. It also has a terrific soundtrack, particularly the title song by the legendary B.B. King, which you’ll be humming for days after (The music score is pretty much riffs on that one song). He also does a great version of ‘The Midnight Hour’ over the end credits, too I might add. But like I said, there’s practically no laughs here. There’s one genuinely cute gag where Goldblum spots a girl in a bikini on a film set and tries to act cool by leaning against a brick wall, but it’s a prop and he breaks it and stumbles. Bruce McGill, meanwhile, raises a smile as Michelle Pfeiffer’s ridiculous Elvis impersonator brother. Hell, Pfeiffer’s fine as well, even though she was much better the same year in the underrated “Ladyhawke”. The film is stolen, however, by rock/pop star David Bowie as a very polite, droll villain. He’s terrific and by far the film’s best ‘guest star’.

 

Of the rest (and indeed, the rest of the cast pretty much are only ‘guest stars’), David Cronenberg is well-cast as Goldblum and Aykroyd’s boss, he’s suitably dry and drab. He’s no Sydney Pollack, but a lot better than most directors trying to act, as is “Barbarella” director Roger Vadim as a French kidnapper (“The Big Chill” director Lawrence Kasdan, however, is pathetic as a cop). Fitness guru and serious hard body Jake Steinfeld (AKA The ‘Body By Jake’ guy) also makes an impression, that’s if you’re into guys. Even I’ve got to admit, he has an impressive physique. Richard Farnsworth is always a welcome presence on screen, playing a rather grandfatherly, kindly crook, you wish he was in the film for more than one scene. Greek actress Irene Pappas is actually a lot more believable as a Middle Eastern villainess than you might expect. One of the least effective, and largest roles for the guest stars is Landis himself as one of a gang of Three Stooges-inspired Arab villains. At one point he hits himself in the head with a door as he tries to open it. That’s the level of humour we’re talking about with these silly characters, and it’s annoying, egotistical stuff from the shy and retiring Landis. However, even those scenes aren’t terribly indicative of Landis’ usual brand of filmmaking. The climactic (and rather violent) shootout at the airport is the most Landis-esque thing in the film. So much so that I was surprised army tanks didn’t show up, as everyone and everything else seems to have been employed bar that and the kitchen sink. That’s not a complaint mind you, it’s the most lively part of the whole film, if jarringly violent and noisy compared to the rest.

 

Less a typically chaotic, bombastic and joke-heavy John Landis comedy and more of an older style romantic comedy caper that Landis has shoe-horned a lot of guest star cameos into and a crazy, violent finale. It’s not very good (and you’d have to be a serious film buff like me to know what most of the cameo players even look like, as even I didn’t spot everyone!), but hardly as bad as its reputation appears to be (Critics liked it a bit more than general audiences). It looks and sounds terrific, and is well-acted, but it just isn’t remotely funny enough and this kind of ‘one crazy’ night comedy ala “After Hours” or the later “Date Night” isn’t really my thing. Still, where else are you gonna find Jeff Goldblum, Jim Henson, David Bowie, Irene Pappas, and Carl Perkins in the same damn movie? That’s definitely…something.

 

Rating: C+