steven@ism70.UUCP (02/27/85)
INTO THE NIGHT
Starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Also starring Richard Farnsworth, Irene Papas, Kathryn Harrold,
Paul Mazursky, Roger Vadim, Dan Aykroyd, David Bowie, Vera Miles,
Carl Perkins and Clu Gulager.
Directed by John Landis. Written by Ron Koslow. Produced by
George Folsey and Ron Koslow.
Photographed by Bob Paynter. Production Designed by John Lloyd.
Edited by Malcolm Campbell. Music by Ira Newborn.
From Universal Pictures. (1985)
This film should only be seen by Los Angelenos and then only
between the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Well, maybe not, but
_I_n_t_o_ _t_h_e_ _N_i_g_h_t's crazily skewed vision of nighttime L.A. is
particularly attractive to those of us who have the hankering to
head out to Westchester and watch the airplanes land from the
mystery subdivision, then cruise by Randy's Donuts for a snack
before heading over the Cahuenga pass to Van Nuys (the dreaded
north-of-Ventura address).
Jeff Goldblum plays Ed Okin, an aerospace engineer who has a
monster case of insomnia. Everyday he gets up and goes to work.
One day, Ed comes home early and sees his wife in their bedroom
with another man. Ed doesn't do anything. He gets back in his
car. He comes home after work. Ed goes to bed. He still can't
sleep. He gets dressed. He drives to the airport. He sits in his
car in the parking lot.
Then Michelle Pfeiffer drops onto the hood of his car, screaming
because four murderous Iranians are after her...
This is one of those _N_o_r_t_h_ _b_y_ _N_o_r_t_h_w_e_s_t-genre suspense thrillers.
Your average Joe-or-Joesephine-off-the-street gets to be involved
in all sorts of hazardous adventures. Logic goes out the window,
and so does explanation. It's all chase, all style. You have to
be willing to suspend your disbelief a little more than usual in
movies like this for them to work their magic.
_I_n_t_o_ _t_h_e_ _N_i_g_h_t works itself out pretty well. Goldblum, like John
Lithgow, is one of those instantly appealing actors. Pfeiffer,
as the BIT (Bimbo in Trouble), makes her part come alive.
Screenwriter Ron Koslow leaves no explanations for the actions,
just the barest motivations for all this murderous intrigue.
Roger Vadim (_B_a_r_b_a_r_e_l_l_a) appears as a villain and nobody else in
the film has the slightest idea how he's involved. There's too
much of this convenience and out-of-the-blue menace for this film
to approach classic status, but it is consistently funny, lively
and engaging. Landis has this distinctive cool, distant camera
style that makes all the gratuitous destruction and titillation
funny; I'm not sure why, but that's how I react to it. I think
for the next couple of weeks I'll be driving around L.A.
wondering just what is going on behind those glass-windowed
storefronts late at night.
You'll read stuff in the reviews about all the in-jokes and
on-camera appearances by famous directors. Some of the few I
caught include:
"See You Next Wednesday," Landis' trademark phrase, appears on a
poster in Bud's trailer when Ed and Diana are looking for the
phone.
Amy Heckerling (_J_o_h_n_n_y_ _D_a_n_g_e_r_o_u_s_l_y) as the waitress at
the Westwood Ships ("Thank you, Amy.").
Lawrence Kasdan (_S_i_l_v_e_r_a_d_o) as one of the detectives at Bud's
beachhouse.
Carl Gottlieb (_C_a_v_e_m_a_n) and Jonathan Demme (_S_t_o_p_ _M_a_k_i_n_g_ _S_e_n_s_e) as
some of the Federal Agents dogging Clu Gulager.
"Frank Oz-kowitz. Paging Frank Oz-kowitz," (_T_h_e_ _M_u_p_p_e_t_s_ _T_a_k_e
_M_a_n_h_a_t_t_a_n) announced in the background at LAX.
David Cronenberg (_T_h_e_ _D_e_a_d_ _Z_o_n_e) at the overhead projector at Ed's
project meeting.
Et cetera, et cetera...
Two and a half stars out of four.