leeper@ahutb.UUCP (leeper) (03/02/85)
INTO THE NIGHT
a film review by Mark R. Leeper
INTO THE NIGHT is John Landis's best crafted film to
date. Landis has had a career of gimicky films that have
been mostly just collections of gags with a thin (or, in the
case of KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, no) connecting plot. His
career started with a parody of TROG called SCHLOCK! (It is
in SCHLOCK that he first started making references to a
non-existent film, SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY, a gag that he
pulls in most of his films). He went on to do films like
ANIMAL HOUSE, BLUES BROTHERS (haven't seen), AN AMERICAN
WEREWOLF IN LONDON, a segment of TWILIGHT ZONE (I think he
is still having legal problems over an accident that killed
Vic Morrow and two children), and TRADING PLACES. To date
most of his films have been characterized by a lot of funny
jokes but very poor control over the tone of the film. For
example, in TRADING PLACES, he works for almost a Capra-
esque feel of comedy of social comment. Then he sabotages
it by throwing in a farcical piece of slapstick involving a
seemingly intelligent gorilla on a train. INTO THE NIGHT
has Landis's best script to date and the tone of the scenes
always seem to fit. INTO THE NIGHT is almost as smooth and
professional a comedy thriller as ROMANCING THE STONE and is
at times a good deal funnier.
Ed Okin (Jeff Goldblum) is a Yuppie aerospace engineer
who has become disenchanted with his lifestyle. It bothers
him to the degree that he has given himself insomnia and
spends both day and night in a bleary twilight zone between
waking and sleeping. One night to fight the boredom of
lying in bed awake he gets in his car and drives to the
airport. What he discovers is being in the wrong airport
garage at the right time is one really good way of fighting
boredom. In a manner reminiscent of NORTH BY NORTHWEST he
is dragged into an adventure involving rich magnates, car
chases, international killers (two sets of international
killers!), about a dozen cars, and a wacko who thinks he's
Elvis Presley. In Hitchcock style he is dragged around the
sights of LA at night from back alleys to the penthouses of
the very rich, from gambling houses to the sets of TV
movies. (Do they really shoot TV-movies at 2am???) Almost
the whole film takes place between the hours of midnight and
dawn on two consecutive nights. Through it all Okin
maintains the even keel of someone so exhausted from his
insomnia that he can only manage to take in what is
happening, not react to the absurdity of it all. Goldblum
plays the part very well.
Landis has his usual collection of inside jokes. In
some of his previous films, Landis would put in people like
Forrest Ackerman to play small roles. In this film he has
in minor parts Jack Arnold, Paul Bartel, David Cronenberg,
Jonathan Demme, Richard Franklin, Carl Gottlieb, Amy
Heckerling, Jim Henson, Colin Higgins, Lawrence Kasdan,
Jonathan Kaufer, Andrew Marton, Paul Mazursky, Daniel Petie,
Don Siegel, Roger Vadim, and, of course, John Landis. And
there is more than enough sight gags, gratuitous nudity, and
car chases to keep John Landis's fans happy. For the first
time, there is also a pretty good story. It isn't WAR AND
PEACE, but it stands way above the plot of ANIMAL HOUSE.
Rate this one a low +2 (on the -4 to +4 scale).
Mark Leeper
...ihnp4!ahutb!leeper