Série noire pour une nuit blanche

Goldblum plays an insomniac who one night goes to the airport on a whim, thinking' about going to Vegas. He runs into feisty Pfeiffer who's running for her life and what follows is his most memorable night ever.

While director Landis isn't always 100% successful at balancing the humor with explicit violence, Into the Night has enough memorable moments to fully compensate and make it a fun filled and suspenseful ride. Goldblum and Pfeiffer play extremely well off each other and supporting actors are plenty and all very good; David Bowie especially memorable in a small cameo and those assassins are quite literally hilarious.

It's rather nasty at times and some scenes kinda' leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, but overall it's a well written yarn that always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Ed Orkin is an ordinary guy with insomnia, has a very boring job and finds out his wife is having an affair. Can his jaded life get any better? Well one night, it does take a sharp turn when he rescues a lovely, but mysterious blonde named Diana from some ruthlessly zany thugs at the airport. From this point onwards Ed and Diana are caught up in a cheerfully dashing and murderous chase throughout the night in Los Angeles. Where everyone seems to want a piece of those six emeralds, which Diana has smuggled into the country.

The first time I saw this flick I stumbled across it accidentally when I was on holidays. Instead of going out for the night in the rain I decided to stay in and watch some telly. Well, from the opening scene I was totally captivated by its maniac humour, trigger-happy cameos, kooky situations and that this road movie took place mostly at night. I don't why, but I just dig that last point about the flick. Years later I had forgot what the title was called, but I still could remember certain scenes and it entered on my ever-growing film list to track down. After a while I kind of forgot about it, but like my first viewing I came across it unknowingly on cable and it came flooding back again. That time I got the title! And I tracked down the DVD only a couple of weeks ago. From my second viewing of it I thought it was John Landis' best film, so when I got the DVD, I was hoping that it would be as good as I remembered it to be. So was it? Oh yeah, it was! I'll definitely go to say that this is my favourite Landis flick, yeah even more than "Animal House", yep more so than "Trading Places", a tad better than "An American Werewolf in London" and way ahead of "The Blues Brothers". I know that's a pretty big statement, but I thoroughly had a wowser with Landis' woozy attempt at film noir.

There's no denying that it's pretty much a self-indulgent flick with Landis getting a whole bunch of friends to join in the act, or is it just one big joke? But I didn't care as I just rolled with the punches and tried to pick up on all the familiar faces. Gee, there are a lot of them popping up, especially directors. The story of a bored guy meets strange gal and get into some weird mess where they're both risk their lives on a plan to get rich has been done time after time, well bits and pieces out of the story obviously have. Though, it just has a knack with its quirkiness, murderous impulse and unpredictable pattern. I can see why some people say it's disjointed, overly padded and that it doesn't know what it wants to be. Sure some things lack depth and meaning, but those out-of-the-blue situations make it more eventful and the pacing can somewhat become plodded, but I always found something noticeable in every frame to keep my full attention. Hmm, maybe it's just me? One moment would be when "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" is playing on a TV and what's happening there seems to fit in to what's going on in the particular scene. The dialog just seems to clash with the action. But then again maybe I'm reading things that aren't there?

This is not all a light-hearted comedy even if it has some slapstick shenanigans mixed with some offbeat and eccentric charm. The thriller element gives it a serious boot and the violence doesn't hold back with some outrageous murders. That especially goes for the tense and forceful climax, where nothing goes to plan. The story's idea is cleverly conducted with its many unexpected turns, scheming and plenty of fruitful characters adding to the zaniness. When it gets going, it gets going. Now what did get going was the simply smooth and steamy soundtrack. It ran with an oozing blues score and legendary musician B.B King was involved and he provided the main theme song. The melodies and score had a strangely hypnotic appeal weaved into them. The glowing performances are all great, though it's Michelle Pfeiffer that heads the top. She was just gracefully attractive with her glittering appearance and believably convincing as the mysterious Diana. Jeff Goldblum as Ed was his usual glum and awkward self with his dry sarcasm. But he has a watchable screen presence even though he seems to be sleepwalking. Even saying that, both of the leads are fleshed out rather well and they fit their parts perfectly. The sensational supporting cast provide a lot of odd and wonderful characters too. With the likes of Irene Papas, Paul Mazursky, Roger Vadim, Richard Farnsworth, John Landis, David Bowie, Kathryn Harrold, Clue Gulager, Dan Aykroyd, Vera Miles and Carl Perkins. Then you got the blink and you'll miss them cameos, which are rather diverting from Amy Heckerling, Jim Henson, Don Siegel, Rick Baker and David Cronenberg. I told ya it was long, but that's just the tip. All of these familiar faces had a witty script to work along with too. Well, what can I say; stimulating madness that dabs some touches of film-noir, comedy and thriller to proceedings.

An excitingly dangerous and unusual night road flick that has a variety of ingredients chucked into this very much 80s product.

This movie is a lighthearted romp! It is filled with laughs, some brilliant physical humor (who knew John Landis was a comic-action actor?), sudden surprises and a phenomenal cast.

And, as a little teaser to make you rent the theatrical version, Michelle Pfeiffer's only known nude scene! TSK, TSK, where she hid those gems!

Jeff Goldblum gives a deadpan performance that is perfect. It fits this movie, it fits his style, and at times it is just hilarious. Probably his best role ever.

The amazingly diverse cast includes Dan Aykroyd, David Bowie, Jim Henson, Paul Bartel, Carl Perkins, Bruce McGill (as Elvis!), Irene Papas, Vera Miles, Richard Farnsworth, Kathryn Harrold, Jake Steinfeld (Body By Jake) and even Clu Gulager! WOW!

But there's added richness for the film buff. Landis cast no fewer than 15 Hollywood directors in this film, plus himself! You can spot Lawrence Kasdan, Jonathan Demme, Paul Mazurski, Amy Heckerling, David Cronenberg, Roger Vadim, Jonathan Lynn, Jack Arnold, Don Siegel, Andrew Marton, Richard Franklin, Colin Higgins, Jonathan Kaufer and Carl Gottlieb.

Director Daniel Petrie even plays the director of a film-within-the-film, with the assistant director of this film, David Sosna, playing the assistant director of that film. There are cinematographers, writers and make-up artists, too, including Rick Baker, the first make-up artist ever to win an Oscar for his craft.

Too few people know about this sleeper. It's fast paced, funny and beautifully filmed. Rent it. You'll love it.

A man's depression and insomnia drive him "Into the Night" and a lot of trouble in this enjoyable 1985 film. Goldblum is Ed Okin, an LA aerospace engineer whose sleep problems are causing him difficulty on his demanding job. His friend (Dan Ackroyd) suggests that the next time he has insomnia, he head for Las Vegas where no one sleeps. After he sees his wife cheating on him, that's just what he does. Then Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer) jumps into his car and his night turns into a dangerous adventure. Pfeiffer has smuggled perfect emeralds into the country for a promised fee, except that everybody is now after her and willing to kill to get them.

There are some great, quirky moments in this film, and one of my favorites occurs when Ed and Diana walk into the apartment of her brother (Bruce McGill) which is wall to wall Elvis. Then her brother walks in - he's an Elvis impersonator. Priceless. Diana and Ed take his car which has the words THE KING LIVES painted across it. One faction looking for the emeralds come off like the Middle Eastern version of the Stooges, particularly in a beach house scene where, trying to get out of a door, one of them keeps hitting himself in the face with it.

The unique thing is that director John Landis has cast many of his fellow directors: Lawrence Kasdan, Jonathan Demme, Paul Mazurski, Amy Heckerling, David Cronenberg, Roger Vadim, Jonathan Lynn, Jack Arnold, Don Siegel, Andrew Marton, Richard Franklin, Colin Higgins, Jonathan Kaufer and Carl Gottlieb - that's a partial list. They're all good, too.

The always terrific Jeff Goldblum gives us a shell-shocked Ed who seems to take each moment as it comes with what is either calm or numbness - it's unclear which, but it works in the role. Pfeiffer is a young beauty in this - she has a very brief, distant nude scene - and is certainly the type of gal a man would go out of his way to help. She's very appealing. Old-timer Clu Gulager also makes an appearance toward the end, and David Bowie has a menacing role as one of the people after the emeralds. There are some fun shots of Los Angeles like Hollywood Boulevard in front of Frederick's of Hollywood that are a real kick.

"Into the Night" is offbeat and fun with enough violence to make it somewhat edgy. A real find.

Jeff Goldblum plays a man with a boring job, a cheating wife, and insomnia. One night beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer enters his life on the run from trouble of her own. The two have a wild night ahead of them as they run from irate Iranians. That makes more sense than it sounds, trust me. Lots of cameos from directors such as David Cronenberg, Jonathan Demme, and Don Siegel. Also a fun cameo by David Bowie. Goldblum and Pfeiffer are great. A solid comedy from John Landis; good escapist fun. Great soundtrack including the title song from B.B. King. Also worth checking out for a very rare (but brief) Pfeiffer nude scene.