That Night

Suffering from insomnia and looking for something to watch in the dead hours of the night, I stopped when the satellite guide told me 'That Night' would be on. I wanted to see it because I like Juliette Lewis but had never got around to renting this movie. I got the strongest sense of deja vu when young 'Alice' showed up on screen for the first time and that clinched it, so I settled in to watch. Set in 1961, this is a better than average execution of an entirely cliched plot. Well-off, popular good girl (Sheryl) meets and falls in love with a sensitive bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks (Rick), everyone else disapproves, she gets pregnant, etc. The couple's only ally is Alice, a young girl who lives across the street from Sheryl. She is a lonely soul- tormented by her "friends", ignored by her father, talked down to by her mother, and obssessed with the idea of a love that will transcend her own, rather unhappy existence. She escapes through Sheryl, whom she idealizes- and who she ultimately is able to help in very important ways. This movie wouldn't really work if not for a nice period feel, very likable, sympathetic main characters and strong performances from the actors playing them. Juliette is as compelling as ever and young Eliza Dushku (who was giving me deja vu, I realized when I saw her name in the credits, because I had seen 'Bring It On' only two days before!) is terrific in her very first role as story-teller Alice. 'That Night' is by no means a great movie, but it is a good one, and well worth seeing.

That Night is a wonderful movie about growing up and discovering yourself. Alice( Eliza Dushku), idolizes her neighbour Sheryl (Julliete Lewis). Alice spends all of her time spying on Sheryl and imagining what it would be like to be her. Due to a incident, Alice and Sheryl become friends and now Alice will do anything to try and help Sheryl and her boyfriend Rick stay together. This is a great movie and everytime I watch it, it puts me in a good mood. It also has a great soundtrack. I would give That Night 9/10

Touching, sensitive film about childhood, and a youngster's need to be "saved" from her own age of innocence. Juliette Lewis is fantastic as vampy young woman in 1960s suburbia whose affair with a greasy-haired rebel becomes the focal point for a little girl who lives across the street. The film's dreamy/quirky tone is reminiscent of "Men Don't Leave", and its depiction of a big-hearted kid trying to connect with a world much larger than she is both nostalgic and sympathetic. Filled with small but wonderful little touches, thoughtful nuances and a quiet, sweet ending. Well worth-seeing. This may be the best performance yet from Juliette Lewis--she's flawless. **1/2 from ****

In her screen debut, a pre-vamp Dushku plays Alice, an 11ish girl who makes friends with an older girl on the other side of both puberty and the street of her Long Island neighborhood. "That Night" is a sweet little slice-of-life flick which tells of the lessons about growing up which Alice learns through her friendship with neighbor Sheryl (Lewis) and her boyfriend (Howell). A journeyman flick but a slow starter worth the wait, "That Night" is a charmer with a 50's flavor, some solid performances, an okay screenplay, and will be most enjoyed by teens and more mature adults.

A sweet and sometimes poignant coming-of-age film set in Long Island in 1961. Craig Bolotin, who directed and adapted Alice McDermott's novel, is able to give a balanced portrait of the advantages and disadvantage of growing up in this era, such as the blessing vs. Detriment of naiveté, the kids' freedom to roam vs. Lack of things to do. And not least, how pre-contraception era upbringing and parenting was so fundamentally different, not really because of differing moral values, but out of pragmatism. Little Eliza Dushku looks a little too young for her part, but there is a purity and authenticity in her infatuation and friendship with Juliette Lewis, who is well cast as the semi-rebelling teenage girl next door.