All Night Long

Gene Hackman is completely winning as George Dupler, an average Joe who vents after repeatedly being passed over for promotion in his company. So he gets demoted to managing an all-night drugstore - a place with a decidedly weird clientele. He buys some trouble for himself when he pursues new acquaintance Cheryl Gibbons (Barbra Streisand), who's already been getting it on with Georges' teenage son Freddie (Dennis Quaid)!

Overall, an interesting venture for the stars that didn't really deserve to bomb so mightily in its time. It's flawed, to be sure (for one thing, it's not completely resolved to any real satisfaction), but it has a certain endearing quality. In that sense, it's much like the unconventional casting of Streisand here, who was a replacement for Lisa Eichhorn. (Supposedly, Gene and Lisa did not get along, which is one reason given why the switch was made.) But Babs is fairly likeable here, and much of the cast does fine work. "All Night Long" is just offbeat and loopy enough to be watchable, although it works better when depicting the strange folk who come out at night, rather than the romance at the centre of the plot. (The screenplay is by W.D. Richter, who more often than not has specialized in offbeat tales, like his directorial debut, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai in the Eighth Dimension".)

Hackman is the main reason to watch. He's at his most engaging, playing this middle aged man dealing with the various setbacks and nuances at this stage in his life. But there's a steady parade of familiar faces in supporting and bit parts to perk things up: Kevin Dobson, William Daniels, Hamilton Camp, Ann Doran, Raleigh Bond, Tandy Cronyn, Terry Kiser, Vernee Watson, Chris Mulkey, Richard Stahl, Bonnie Bartlett, etc.

In the almost 40 years since this release, Gene and Babs have expressed negativity towards the film if they indeed acknowledged it at all. And many Streisand fans denote it as a low point in her career. But the casual movie watcher might not be so harsh, and see this for what it is: a harmless, amiable trifle.

Six out of 10.

Gene Hackman plays a man who was just fired from his executive job. He's demoted to being the night manager at a 24 hour drug store. He doesn't get along with his wife (Diane Ladd) or his 18 year old son Freddie (played by 26 year old Dennis Quaid). Freddie is sleeping around with his 4th cousin Cheryl (Barbra Streisand). George tries to put a stop to it and Cheryl dumps Freddie and starts sleeping with him! This is a strange one. It came out in 1981 and bombed immediately. It had a lot of bad publicity with Lisa Eichorn being fired and replaced with Streisand. Also Streisand re-wrote the entire script to make her part bigger. She wanted to try something different with this movie. That's fine but why redo the script? This story was about George and his dealing with being fired and being middle-aged--Streisand should have left the script alone. As it is it's a terribly uneven movie--veering wildly from drama to comedy. The drama is pretty heavy and the comedy is, at best, subtle. It was pushed as a romantic comedy which it certainly was not. However it was never dull and works as a mild dramady. W.D. Richter wrote the original screenplay and he always writes (and directs) offbeat movies so this being a strange movie makes sense.

Acting is all over the map. Streisand (wearing a blonde wig) plays her role in a muted way. She only sings one song (badly) and doesn't play the tough-acting role she's well known for. She tries for something different but it doesn't work. Hackman is just great in his role--he really brings the movie to life. Ladd is hardly in this and Quaid is WAY too old for his role--and looks it. So it is uneven and strange but worth a look. I give it a 5.

When It was first released in 1981, this film was dismissed as a disaster !! Most critics disliked and or dismissed it.. audiences stayed away...STREISAND was criticized for not only being miscast but replacing Lisa Eichorn who was fired... Streisand was repaying a favor for agent Sue Mengers/ & this was not a typical Streisand film..no singing. no hit record associated with it/ no directorial or producing chores done by Babs here..This was a small movie,about the mid life crisis of the main character played very well by Gene Hackman ! He needs a change from his job, his nagging wife, played by Diane Ladd, and his annoying son, Dennis Quaid... Along comes,sexy, blonde, Cheryl riding her motor bike..an atypical role portrayed by Streisand.. and Hackmans life progressively is altered. Streisand is excellent in this role, she totally loses all the Streisand mannerisms& personna that she is famous for,: she is not Fanny, not Dolly, not Katie or even Esther, she is Cheryl, with a hint of Marilyn Monroe, even sings off key... gives a very believable performance..much underrated!!!The film is short,sweet and to the point not a great movie, but certainly not the disaster thought to be..nicley directed by Jean Claude Tramont with a European flair...Hackman is really wonderful in his role and there is a nice chemistry between the leads...Give it a chance you wont be disappointed!!

Hackman is a demoted chain store executive who is banished to the grave yard shift at one of the chain's drug stores. Just when it seems things couldn't get any worse for him he discovers his teenage son (Dennis Quaid) is having an affair with a sexy relative (Streisand). When Streisand starts making the moves on an already depressed Hackman it's only a matter of time before his jealous son let's the cat out of the bag. This is a very dark comedy. There are no real laughs. It is also not one of Barbra's best performances. She even sings a song purposely bad. Not one for the time capsule, though members of the Streisand Fan Club may make excuses for it.

Streisand is on record saying ( god please let this be right and I"m not put on her TRUTH ALERT) website, that she was an Actress who sings.

For almost all her films, she acts, but is always being Streisand. In ALL NIGHT LONG, she's actually acting. And is pretty good at it.

Yet today people still look at it as a disaster and it's not. Not at all. Yet when all clips of Streisand were on display during the American Film Institute when she was honored, not one clip of ALL NIGHT LONG was shown. I don't know if she's ashamed of it (I would think she wouldn't be) or more than likely, she probably could care less.

Same here. ...Yet I'm taking time out to express my thoughts. That makes no sense.