Netflix’s Surreal, R-Rated 80s Comedy Is The Secret Masterpiece Of A Senior Director
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
Whenever I think of movies associated with Martin Scorsese, I immediately think of mobsters and crime bosses and nothing else, because that’s what he’s best known for. The first films come to mind Goodfellas, They are goneagain Bringing Out the Deadevery great movie is worth its weight in critical acclaim. However, at the age of 37, I recently learned about a subgenre that became popular in the 80s known as the Yuppie Nightmare Cycle, which mixes movie noir motifs with elements of screwball comedy, as seen in 1985. After Hours.
Written by Joseph Minion and directed by Scorsese, After Hours my official introduction to the sub-list in my headcanon, although I’m sure I’ve seen movies that fit into this wheelhouse before becoming familiar with the term. What can I say? I am only human, I indulge in many side desires of cinema, and because of that I become blind. You never know what you know, but now that I know, I need more of what movies are like After Hours which I have to give because it contains almost everything I look for in a movie.
The Fugue State of Bad Decisions
After Hours it earns its keep by continually increasing its base to absurd extremes. We are introduced to Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne), a white name processor working in New York City. She is generally good-looking, professionally respected, has a nice apartment, and dresses well. Despite all this, he lives alone and lives a seemingly empty life.
While eating at a restaurant one night, Paul becomes engrossed in the book he is reading, Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, and Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette). He talks briefly about himself and his roommate, Kiki (Linda Fiorentino), a sculptor whose reputation is for making papier-mâché paperweights shaped like badges. Expressing interest in these sculptures to return to her place, perhaps to meet, Paul gets Marcy’s phone number and the address she shares with Kiki.
From this point forward After HoursPaul’s life becomes absurdly worse. He loses the only $20 he has when his speeding taxi driver causes him to have his window blown out. Kiki comes to him after asking for help with a giant picture of a screaming man. Marcy grows increasingly unstable around him. Paul leaves the house fully intending to go home, but his normal life has not prepared him for the fact that the subway fare jumps at midnight, and the change in his pocket is not enough to cover it.
Far from home, broke, and standing in the rain, Paul relies on the kindness of strangers to get back to his house. This proves not to be the goal because every step forward pushes him two steps back, and the people he runs to make things worse. Marcy commits suicide in her absence, and the owner of the bar where she seeks refuge, Tom (John Heard), her boyfriend, receives a call informing him of her death.
Paul, who once changed his house keys and used Tom as a token of loyalty to take money from the ledger to pay for the subway fare, is mistakenly identified as a burglar who has been harassing the place. A crowd erupts with the sole intention of handing him over to the authorities or killing him. It goes on like this for 90 minutes, so I’ll spare you the nitty-gritty details.
I Can’t Live With ‘Em …
Throughout Paul’s journey After Hourshe meets woman after woman who woos him, often seduces him, then stirs when they realize he’s not interested and just wants to go home. From the unknown Marcy, to the sculptor Kiki, to the bartender Julie (Teri Garr), to Mr. Softee driver Gail (Catherine O’Hara), to June (Verna Bloom), who is also a photographer, Paul keeps running towards the bad guys in the way of friendship with unwanted women as if it were his true calling. The humor comes from the conflict of it all, because Paul’s reason for going out in the first place was to meet a woman who was hoping to get him out.
After Hours it’s equal parts neo-noir and slapstick comedy, and it’s impossible to watch without feeling completely exhausted from Paul’s position. The expression on Griffin Dunne’s face, which combines awe, wonder, and pure confusion, makes this a fun ride from start to finish because of how fully he commits. If you’re in the mood for the worst night imaginable and want to enjoy it by laughing at someone else’s expense, you can stream After Hours on Netflix as of this writing.
