Les croque-morts en folie

I was watching this for the second time on the telly when my dad came in after a hard day's work to wish me good night. He started watching, sat down and stayed transfixed to the end, finally declaring it one of the funniest films he had ever seen. I agreed with him. Then I sent him off to bed. I couldn't bear to look at those red spandex trousers for a minute longer.

"Chuck Lumley" (Henry Winkler) is an unassertive, mild-mannered New Yorker who has a bossy girlfriend and works at the city morgue. He is a genuinely nice guy who simply wants to live a normal life. As luck would have it, however, two unexpected events suddenly turn his life upside-down and things will never be the same for him afterward. The first major change is when he gets a new office worker by the name of "Bill Blazejowski" (Michael Keaton) who is the complete polar opposite of Chuck. Whereas Chuck is quiet and considerate, Bill is totally loud, spontaneous and unpredictable. The second person to suddenly appear in Chuck's life is a prostitute named "Belinda Keaton" (Shelley Long) who has just lost her pimp and needs someone to help her out. While Chuck is sympathetic to her plight, Bill sees an opportunity and soon all three of them become part of something that none of them can control. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an exceptional comedy which benefits from the great chemistry displayed by the three aforementioned actors. It was like each of them tailor-were made for their specific characters. Be that as it may, while the subject matter might be a little risqué, I found this to be an enjoyable film and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

The basic structure of Night Shift is really familiar stuff but the main idea here is really unique and results in a really good comedy that gets enough good laughs out of it across the run time bolstered by a strong central trio and easygoing direction that makes the whole thing more enjoyable.

Henry Winkler's mild mannered nature is ideal to lead the film in contrast to everything around him and his growing confidence is really fun. Shelley Long really humanises a character who could have easily been two dimensional and Michael Keaton rounds out the core three in terrific fashion.

In his first film role Keaton shows why he's become and remains a truly dynamic screen presence with an incredible amount of energy from his first appearance and a level of comedic timing that is impeccable every single time. Almost all of the best jokes here are his.

Ron Howard's direction compliments everything else nicely, there's nothing groundbreaking here but there's some clever flourishes and framing that enhances the humour. It opens pretty strong as well, setting up a lot of different aspects with an engaging chase sequence.

Ron Howard has always been a consistantly talented director, never making a bad or even mediocre film. Even a film such as Ransom that opened to lukewarm reviews from both audience and critics is still better than your average thriller. He has a way of making lines and scenes memorable even when the script itself is only so-so. After following his career, I went back to one of his first, Night Shift which still has the magic I remember it did when I saw it way back when.

The story isn't the greatest and Shelly Long has never been an actress I've enjoyed watching but if you only want one reason to see Night Shift, Micheal Keaton is it. Here he creates what is probably one of the funniest characters I have ever seen in a movie. He is an idea man, constantly speaking them into his taperecorder and thus to his morgue co-worker Henry Winkler. Winkler "the fonz" is the total opposite of what he was in Happy Days, and therefor a perfect anchor for Keaton. If it was just Keaton, it wouldn't work, but Winkler is annoyed at Keaton, we laugh because of it.

If you do decide to watch this movie, be on the lookout for the single most hilarious scene: Keaton's analysation of the word "prostitute."

Very funny comedy from Ron Howard. Winkler and Keaton are a great duo and they team up very successfully from what I see. The whole premise is completely absurd, but you never know, it could happen. Nonetheless, engaging performances and great humor serve up a very good film. 9/10