After Hours Overcomes Weaknesses in a Comedy That Pays

Page 4 Retriever entertainment After Hours overcomes weaknesses in a comedy that pays off sions that drive ordinary people to attempt to Marcie certainly isn't the girl next door, but scatological exploitation comedy made in the bly Teri Garr's "Miss Beehive '65" waitress, by David Proglasky achieve fame. Here Martin Scorsese opened up to the bored Hackett, she is both amusing and hopes of usurping the minimum wage dollar of John Heard's Terminal Bar bartender, and Retriever Contributor an entirely different area of his film-making intriguing enough for him to call her later that the pimply adolescent. It is instead, a fresh and (SCTV Alumnus) Catherine O'Hara's Mister Long before there was the Brat Pack of talent to deliver a sardonically clever expose' of night, where upon he is invited over to the subtle composition that pits the mundane, Softee Ice Cream truck driver. There's even a actors, there was a "brat pack" of sorts of Holly- the insincere politics of "showbiz" and how the apartment. Being the desperate schmuck that white wash, working world against the dark, brief appearance by Cheech and Chong, who wood's newest, fresh-faced directors, most of performers and audiences alike are puppets of he is, agrees to come in the hopes of a shameless quirky underground that is somehow never cannot say three words without inserting "aw, whom were as young, or younger than the the all-powerful media. Scorsese's prowess few hours of "frollicking,"forthelack of a more seen in daylight. man," but give a bearable performance as a pair actors that they worked with. shines through in every aspect of the film; the euphemistic term. This is when the fun begins. The humor is not of the "hyuk-hyuk" brand, of bungling burglars. These directors came on the scene in the early pacing, performances, and camerawork all He takes a taxi, although in the course of the but is instead generated by the strange and Finally, this brings us to our old friend, direc- to mid-seventies with successful films that combine for a powerful, though hilarious, excursion his primary money source for the unnerving incidents that beset the central char- tor Martin Scorcese. His cameo as a light- enabled them to pursue more ambitious pro- picture. night, a twenty-dollar bill, goes flying out the acter in his quixotic attempts of escape the mess wielding "guard" at the Club Berlin is somehow jects later on. A few became mass market profit It is there same new-found skills of comedy window, partially due to the fact that the cabbie that he so sorrily got himself into. Every step indicative of his taut control over the entire kings (George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, of that Scorsese employs in the making of his averaged fifty miles per hour on the way over. forward leads him ten steps back, and as Paul project. With brilliant, flashy camerawork, and course), some gratuitously self-indulged to the latest release, After Hours, which is another Once he arrives there, he meets up with Marcie's Hackett, Griffen Dunne must be able to convey highly contrasting settings, and deft use of light- point of nearly sinking major film companies black comedy set in (you guessed it), New York. roommate, a leather-clad punk whose current this sense of tragedy in order for the comedy to ing and color, Scorsese creates a visual excite- (Francis Ford Coppola and Dr. Heaven's Gate This new film's plot revolves entirely around the artistic project is a papier-mache sculpture of a pay off. ment that most music video directors can only Michael Cimino). Still others faded into obs- city and its people, or specifically, the small haunted menacing figure of a man, menacing The goodness is that he is indeed quite up to dream about. His careful pacing allows the ten- curity in the wake of the regained popularity of pocket of Soho, a strange, counter-cultural sec- enough to initiate Paul Hackett to a slow but snuff, embedding into his character a deep sense sion to build appropriately; slowly but surely, the more commercially-oriented movie. tion of New York City populated by artists, building case of the heebie-jeebies. of futility and sympathy as the ordinary man creating a greater comic payoff. Martin Scorcese, a member of this unofficial weirdos, punks, and any other misfits of There he waits for Marcie to return from the trapped in an unknown and unreal environ- Scorsese also establishes a set distance fraternity, managed to stay afloat amidst the upwardly mobile society. all-night drug store, where,as he later discovers, ment, a computer programmer's nightmare, between Hackett and the viewer, out of which fatter egos of his peer group, to make critically Griffen Dunne, who was best thing about she has purchased medication for second- who while needing a pleasant diversion finds develops an effective feeling of voyeurism, so acclaimed, and sometimes even financially suc- American Werewolf in London, plays Paul degree burns. The heebie-jeebies escalate to a himself being slurped into an engulfing, chaotic that the viewer can fully enjoy the mental mala- cessful films that were both innovative and inci- Hackett, a clean-cut Manhattan dwelling com- panicky paranoia that compels Hackett to flee perversion. dies that are bestowed upon Hackett without sive in their execution of style and content. puter programmer who has begun to grow a bit the seemingly endless stretch of human waste- As the object of his lust, Rosanna Arquette having to suffer through the burden of senti- Interestingly enough, nearly all of Martin weary of the nine-to-five lifestyle. Then late one land that is known and loved as Soho. From (Desperately Seeking Susan) offers an endear- ment of most point of view movies. Scorcese's films take place in the city that never night, while reading Tropic of Cancer in a cof- here it gets only worse for poor Hackett, who ing and memorable performance that is under- All of these elements combine to garner sleeps, the Big Appple, Koch's Kingdom, New fee shop, he strikes up a conversation with an has pocket change and loafers as his only source cut with a sense of greater depth than the script enough of a comic groove to overcome the York, New York. Starting with Mean Streets, attractive, but unusual woman named Marcie of escape, and ever-increasing fears that are had originally rendered occasional weakness that pop up in Joseph there came Taxi Driver, New York, New York, (Rosanna Arquette), who unfolds to Hackett amplified with his every step. As Marcie's roommate, Linda Fiorentino Minion's script, and propel the moviegoer into Raging Bull, and King of Comedy, all of which the details of her life, which include her failed Most of the humor for the rest of the film (Vision Quest) imbues the screen with the sul- a strange, new world, where black comedy is the are set in New York City and feature the ele- marriage, her new boyfriend whose obsession derives from the strange and psychotic encoun- try, sensual fire that has marked her previous sole source of relief. If a full day of computer ments that comprise the city: its frenetic pace, with The Wizard of Oz compels him to cry out ters that he stumbles upon in the course of his screen appearances, and the huskiest voice this hacking has got you run down, or if thegender- overwhelming size, noise pollution, and paran- "Surrender, Dorothy!"during lovemaking, and frustrated exodus from this flako factory, but as side of Lauren Bacall. is-optional world of the arts sends a chill up oic lifestyle. the fight that erupted between them earlier that the preceeding narrative should indicate, this is In fact, all the performances in this strange, your spine, then go see After Hours. Only then Though most of these films are full-scale dra- night. She also gives Hackett the phone number not your run of the mill, boobs and buttocks, strange film are nearly letter perfect, most nota- can you fully realize how good you've got it. mas, King of Comedy, as the title implies, is a of the apartment where she is spending the comedy that dealt with the importance of fame night, a studio residence occupied by an artist in the American culture, and the obsessive delu- friend (Linda Fiorentino). Fine delicacies to be found at the Sev well stocked rack staring you in the mug? yourself, but don't let the clerk see ya! by Mauricio Ordonez and Tony Sclafani Look over to the left, good friends. There's In short, "The Sev" is one of the best dining Retriever Editors some kid playing the latest modern video game. facilities around, and it wont be long until high It's a beacon of light in a dark world. It's a Just look at that scantily clad young nubile school seniors will be taking their prom dates to hero in an age where there are supposedly no stroking the joystick. What could epitomize our this fine, fine establishment. Then it will heroes. It is the savior of all United States citi- culture more? Not any "nice" restaurant, that's become a movement. Wedding receptions will zens between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 for sure. Now look to the right. Drinks, folks! be held there. The Pope will visit The Sev when a.m. It is sustenance. It is life. It is...7-//!!! Some 7-1 l's even carry beer and stuff like that, he comes to America.

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