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William Richert directed and wrote the novel as a youngster on which A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon is based. Sad to say he failed to capture whatever charm there was in the book for his lead character. As River Phoenix plays him, Jimmy is spoiled, hedonistic, self-indulgent, and a liar. Maybe he should have gone into politics.

Richert wrote the book in the Sixties and that's where the film is set, a rich suburb of Chicago. Phoenix as Jimmy Reardon is spoiled kid who has sex more on his mind than anything else, not atypical for someone his age. He's a chick magnet even when he's not trying.

What this one wants to do is somehow get an airline ticket to Hawaii where he believes he can be a beachcomber and live off tourists. His father, Paul Koslo, wants him to go to school or get a job, the nerve of the man. So Phoenix hatches this scheme to somehow get enough money in the next 24 hours to fly to Hawaii or its either, the street, a job, or school. That is if the women can leave him alone, which apparently they can't.

Including one cougar who is deliciously played by Ann Magnuson, she's the best thing in the film.

River Phoenix's fans usually consider this one of, if not the worst film of his short career. I'm inclined to agree with them. River is certainly sexy enough in this film, but he's so incredibly dislikeable in this part.

I was only 17. I was expecting a John Hughes film. if this had been an "indie" movie it would have done better, but the movie was Advertised to america like a regular (ie. happy) movie. it does have some spotty acting, slow parts, etc. but the big problem is the only thing I got from the movie (no pleasure, no pay off, no catharsis was):

Jimmy has no heart of gold, he is dross. and the film is good at depicting the story of a man who realizes he will be a cheatin', no good jerk like his father, and that he really does not care. he seems at one with his shallowness. I don't think most teens could accept the idea that they are not good, not bad, just blah with such grace. a real human would not just shrug and accept his loserness..when he seemed to have a glimmer of more. It takes longer for life to beat you down at that.

I walked out of the movie theater at the age of 17 thinking "THIS SUCKED compared to FERRIS BUELLER" and I was right. 15 years later, I am still right.

"A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon" is a grinless Coming Of Age film which has been mis-packaged as a comedy. It almost seems as if half the film was in the can before someone on high decided to change the genre... either that or Richert forgot to film a lot of scenes.

River Phoenix is said to have been ashamed of his part in the film, but he is actually not bad, considering the material he had to rise above. Reardon gives us a Phoenix who has not yet become hard-eyed, 'though the character he played was nearly graceless. River still had fuzz on his chin and boyish charm. This was a young man on the cusp of greatness.

The adult actors in this film were dreadful and the other young actors were uneven. I hardly recognized Mathew Perry. Talk about a baby face!

Watching Reardon is like watching kids try to play grownup. The script was originally written for older actors and would have been better if older actors were used. Those used seemed hardly past puberty, and had no idea how to play "sexually jaded" at all.

Overall, I prefer Reardon to "Dogfight" as a River Phoenix vehicle and a comparison of the box-office take shows many others did too.

See it if only to see a still innocent River Phoenix playing a young man far removed from himself.

this is the ONLY movie that I have ever walked out in the middle of. not offensive, or even stupid, just pointless. the main problem is that the supposed protagonist is one of the most self-absorbed, unlikeable characters ever written, and he finds no redemption, or even change. he starts out an a-hole, and ends up and a-hole. at least they could have made him an interesting a-hole, but he was boring, too.

I miss movies like these. strong and poetic writing with intense narration by Phoenix. the story is at the same time simple but influent and memorable to our common lives of all days.

the scene when Phoenix rides the car through the alleys and talking about cigars is hardly forgotten.

we all, not even for once, have lived like this, we all have been a teen like this, we all have had our small and big frustrations like these, and we all have had surprises... ...and there's always a new day to come.

;)RIC

This movie features one of the most despicable lead characters, and that character narrates. It's hard to see how this even got green lit.

Sure, a lot of it rings true for a teenage boy, but bleh. Like, Jimmy getting drunk and doing the obnoxious poetry to the crowd. That's not pleasant to watch, and frankly, practically everybody including Jimmy would pretty much decide to forget it ever happened.

From a practical standpoint, the studio tried to sell it as something it wasn't, and that can be seen right on the cover art. That looks like a fun happy silly movie, while it's actually a sometimes dark drama.

The writer/director, Richert, released a Director's Cut with himself narrating instead of Phoenix. This makes the movie even worse, because it reminds you that a mature adult wrote and directed this about himself and yet can't seem to fathom how horrible the character Jimmy is.

When it was Phoenix narrating, it's easy to imagine this was just a bad misfire of a teen film. But with Richert-- talk about an out of control ego.

After all, aside from being a total a**, at one point Reardon is borderline assaulting a female.

Something truly rare in film: a disaster on every level. River Phoenix takes himself way too seriously in the title role of a hipster-doofus poet on the night everyone supposedly discovers what a genius he is. It's a film chock full of bad acting, bad writing, bad staging, and the most asinine, sanctimonious poetry ever heard. It makes Mike Myers' parody in So I Married an Axe Murderer sound like William Shakespeare. Of course, since River and Ione Skye are so good-looking, we're supposed to take them seriously. To paraphrase Heathers, it's teen-angst you-know-what. Don't fall for it. I admonish you all to leave in the 59-cent bin of your local video store where it belongs.

Boring, pointless teenage angst flick. The dialogue is bad, the acting is bad, the "plot" is bad, the story is unrealistic, the "emotions" are phony. Plenty of shallow pretensiveness taking itself seriously. Unless you're Beavis or Butthead, don't waste your time. As someone else said, leave this one in the 59 cent bin at the local thrift shop. 2/10.

Everyone tries awfully hard to breath some life into this bad script. In a nutshell, the main character is unsure of his future. All his friends are off to college while he hasn't a clue where to go. His only talents are reciting some bad poetry and many dalliances. There are no endearing characters. The lead character, Phoenix, is down-right unlikeable and I was only wishing that when he was getting his face pounded in one scene that it could have continued a little longer. After all the ordeal, does the character have any greater personal insight? Nope. Still directionless as he lies to his father in the closing scene. Interesting only in seeing some familiar actors in their early days. Plenty of over-acting by Phoenix through-out.

I watched this movie when I was younger and enjoyed it, now....it just seems boring. There are no likable characters, the script does a poor job of even letting you get to know anyone but jimmy. It isn't funny, not at all so I'm not sure why it is classified as a comedy. Honestly jimmy just doesn't have that much happen to him, other than lots of sex. Watching this now it just falls flat. There is no lesson learned, no great friendships explored, no amazing love story here. Jimmy doesn't seem to really care about anyone but himself. You get the idea ( due to the narration), that jimmy does indeed become a writer...but that's not explored either. His writing is actually just a side note in the story . It's almost as if somewhere in there a good story existed, but they don't finish telling it or something. It's really just a movie about a selfish person, surrounded by selfish people...who is really nave about life and has no clue what he wants to do, other than girls of course. This movie s devoid of purpose and fairly vapid.

I only tuned into this film to see Ione Skye. Denise (Ione Skye) and Jimmy (River Phoenix) had an interesting thing going on. Outside of her, I am really not sure what was going on.

Jimmy seemed to be trying to find his own way and not follow what others wanted him to do. Sort of a slacker, he was in constant turmoil with his father until they managed to find something in common to bind them together. :-) He totally screwed things up with his girlfriend, but one suspects that he might have decided to try again as the movie ends. Who Knows?

I really was hoping for a film that would give me an idea of what River was like as an actor. This wasn't it. It really didn't have much going for it except Ione.

This is a film about a boy named Jimmy Reardon. He's at a turning point in his life, and he has no clue as to what path to take. Sound interesting? Not really.

This movie plays off a depth that is non-existent. It's hard to take the main character seriously, when I have no understanding of his view point. Jimmy is shallow and unlikable, and exactly the kind of character you don't want to portray.

I read somewhere that RP's mother strongly hinted that he take this role because he hadn't done a film for over two years. I understand that. And I know that River rose above this kind of film and was almost making works of art, before his sudden and tragic death.

All I can say about this movie is that it's trying to be intellectual, but don't by into it. Only small-minded individuals could find the sexual promiscuity of Jimmy the equivalent of 'art'.

2, just for being a RP film.

I kept avoiding seeing "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" for a while after a disastrous bad impression over its first minutes, can't tell for sure what happened in that first attempt years ago. But without any more River Phoenix films to watch, this was the one missing and I wish I could go without. Almost pointless in what's trying to do, unfunny and presenting what could be one of the most unlikeable and detestable lead characters in a comedy - one cannot do that in a comedy. William Richert's adaptation of his own novel "Aren't You Even Going To Kiss Me Goodbye?" was sufferable through nearly its entirety, with some interesting moments and a decent acting from the cast, but it's beyond salvation.

Deep down in "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon" there's a valid (and cliched) criticism on the final years of the American dream of the 1950's and the loss of innocence of the 1960's. Here, the young title character (Phoenix) is completely lost with a decision he has to make: to enter the college his dad attended (which the kid hates the idea) or join a college he wants with the artful studies he likes. The dad, played by Paul Koslo, is one of those formulaic characters made to yell and scream at wife and kids throughout the movie, but based on the film bookends he changes drastically (with a given reason).

The problem with Jimmy is that he's still trying to understand life, relationships, as he's also a ladies man but also romantically involved with a rich girl (Meredith Salenger) who refuses to go to bed with him - her parents disapproves of the poor young stud, and he's basically used as a boytoy to please the girl's whims (as I kept watching their moments I couldn't help but thinking of a dull song that I like that had such description). The challenge is to get money from all sources possible to have a trip to Hawaii with the girl and countless situations ensues, none of them funny or interesting - except for affair with an older woman (Ann Magnuson).

Had it used the more serious underlined themes and removing the comedy altogether, this might have been a more interesting film. By the time Reardon finds out about the hypocrisy of the adult world and some sense comes to his head, we almost feel sorry for all the troubles he was put. Almost, since he's a completely obnoxious character who makes all the poor decisions possible despite being a smart guy who knows how to get out of situations. The typical teen with countless things over his head, Jimmy Reardon is someone who doesn't know that the word priority must not be used as a plural - the moment you define "priorities" you lose the essence of what really is a priority to be done/solved. But honestly, I couldn't care about the trip, the money, the college or his attempts in fixing a date for his best buddy (Matthew Perry, on his film debut) since Reardon becomes a total annoyance.

Richert's idea in making of River Phoenix a teen hearthrob was a total miss and a major problem. Phoenix could fit such description as he was a great looking young man. But there was more to it. A sensible and talented young actor who could disappear in his roles, with a great complexity and charisma. To have him reduced in being 'what the girls dream and want' didn't help him and he felt that. To the fans, skip this without worry. 5/10.

A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988) was another starring vehicle for River Phoenix. The film is filled with a lot of teen stars that paraded around on the silver screen during the eighties. But unlike the teen comedies of today, these were rated R are just rated that way to get more of their core viewers. This was a great era for River Phoenix. He was starring like in every other big production that came out of Hollywood. But like all the stars, they eventually come down hard and River Phoenix was no exception.

The movie is about the life of a wild teen. He has all sorts of adventures and conquests. His home life is also a battlefield. Dealing with his absent father and girlfriend take a toll on his personal life as well as his school life. That is also a problem. At his age many kids are at a crossroads on what to do with their adult life. Go to school or get a job like his old man. What is a rapscallion like Jimmy going to do? Until that one wild night comes and passes.

Just another run-of-the-mill teen comedy from the eighties. Except this one's a River Phoenix starring vehicle. Nothing more, nothing less.

Recommended for fans of eighties films.

Just absolutely godawful- so so completely garbage. Lets start at the top, its called A Night in The Life of Jimmy Reardon, but it takes place over the course of several months, maybe the director just liked the sound of the title rather than its accuracy. Next, its a movie about a miserable "ladies-man" who deceives friends, lovers and family members for small cowardly reasons. The filmmaker celebrates these meaningless deceptions, the filmmaker celebrates his heartless soulless Don Juan, its so insane and confusing that it left this reviewer asking this question "hey what the hell is this crap?" I mean who the hell is this movie for? What sort of awful hate filled rapist wants to watch this? Jimmy Reardon is a character devoid of kindness and compassion, less man and more entirely a creature, a creature that does not interact with fellow humans than so much stalk them in a predatory manner. DESTROY THIS MOVIE!

Phoenix plays a character you love to hate. Incredible movie. Incredible ending. Comes full circle. 10/10! I recommend.

I bought this film recently and before i saw it, i read the user comments and I am shocked about the rating it has gotten! I love this film so much, I felt like I knew the characters! The film just seemed so real and we thought out. It clearly isn't the greatest film in the world etc but it sure as hell doesn't deserve to get the rating everyone else on this site has given it. I loved the film so much. It seems like an awesome film and people obviously don't care about it enough to appreciate it. The acting was great and so was the direction. I cannot say one bad word against the film. Not one bad word. All i have to say is praise.

I think everyone should give this film a chance and see how good it actually is!

This is supposed to be a fun, hip, easy movie portraying the sexcapades of a teenage bad boy. What it does, however, is features grown women having illegal sex with a minor CHILD!

This isn't funny! It isn't enjoyable. It doesn't document the trials of teenage angst. It doesn't demonstrate the pains of teenage love. What this did was tell an entire society that this activity was appropriate and commonly practiced. While the later may be the case, the former is NOT.

I was not amused, nor was I entertained. This movie is a fecal abortion that belongs in the toilet.

No rating. It doesn't rate one.

the Fiend :.

His standpoint really gives a breadth to a lot of the aspects of life we don't pay too much attention to, the common every day we would consider trivial he is all up on it dissecting it, analyzing it, making poetry out of it, its sweet and endearing , of course we all are going to sit here and when commenting on River Phoenix we can't believe it, but I will say this, imagine if he had lived, the scripts alone that would of run through his hands, the scripts alone that would have been created just for him as he becomes an super creative talented thespian from all angles , well, now he is with the angels entertaining them I hope and like to think he is somewhere perfecting his craft and playing music , but for us, we don't get to enjoy it. Why ? Is there a Netflix of sorts in the next life? dang....

River must have been asleep when he read this script. A young actor known for choosing meaty, meaningful roles, in this instance, he must have been going for cheap publicity. Well, I don't think he made many fans with this one. I'm not even sure what movie this compares to. It went on too long and was hardly worth watching. On a personal note. I will always miss River. He was the best young actor of his generation. And the business of movie making has not been the same without him. He could have reached the top. Goodbye again, young friend.

I found the last 10 minutes of the film exhilarating, thanks to its beautiful writing. A curve ball that I did not expect. Watching it was truly gratifying.

River, both in real life and in the movie, was too young for this role at 17. A lot of mature scenes for a teen drama/comedy with the actor still being a child. I guess this is why we have movies/shows that have 20 year olds playing high school characters. However, despite this, he undeniably exuded the charisma of a seasoned movie star.

After viewing the film, I anticipated it would become a cult classic, beloved by all, but was surprised to find numerous negative reviews. What aspects did you find displeasing? Was it perhaps Jimmy's portrayal as an anti-hero, which diverged from the typical 2024 apologetic archetype seen in contemporary cinema? Personally, I found his edgy, non-conformist demeanor refreshing. His character arc, culminating in a realization of his own flaws, felt satisfyingly authentic. He wasn't good, and that's the whole point.