La mort sera si douce

Intense actors like Bruce Dern, Jason Patrick and Rachel Ward combine to make this modern-day film noir a winner. Of the three, I don't know who was most interesting as all offer good performances and intriguing characters.

Patric does the narration in this noir, playing an ex-boxer and mental patient. Wow, that alone makes for an interesting guy! He looks dumb, but he isn't. Ward is the slinky, attractive, cynical, intelligent and compassionate co- conspirator of a kidnapping plan that goes bad. Bruce Dern also is in the mix and Dern never fails to fascinate in about any film.

The movie could be considered kind of downer to the average viewer, but I found it fascinating....and I don't like depressing movies normally. What I found was a kind of quirky crime film. Take a look and see if you agree. This is pretty unknown film that shouldn't have that status because it's simply a good story and well-done.

Ex-boxer turned drifter, Kid Collins (Patric), wafts his way into the life of a con-man and a drunk. Wanting to stay below the radar, Collins takes refuge with a woman that trades shelter for work. The death of her husband has plummeted her into a world of alcohol and rage. As Collins begins to build a relationship with her, she shares with him details of a kidnapping plan that her and her 'Uncle' have been working on. Thinking that Collins is nothing more than a mental lackey, they persuade him to help with the diabolical plan. Little do they know that the monsters struggling inside Collins' mind are about to be unleashed onto the world. As the plan begins to disintegrate before their eyes, loyalties are lost, and nobody can be trusted.

What an amazing find! When I began watching this film I was not expecting to be so surprised. Jason Patric is spectacular in this film and demonstrates powerfully his ability to control and maintain a troubled character. I never once felt that he had stepped out of character during this performance. This is due in part to the exceptional direction by James Foley that creates a story so imaginative and real that you begin to feel as if this could be a town next to yours. Foley gives us flawed characters that take away that image of perfection and helps build deeper emotional ties. Foley also never gives anything away. Throughout this entire film, I never knew what was going to happen next. This is surprising for a Hollywood notorious for 'jumping the gun'.

Patric's performance with Foley's direction coupled with a completely terrifying secondary characters (like Bruce Dern and Rachel Ward), After Dark My Sweet is a true diamond in the rough.

Grade: ***** out of *****

This is a moody, oblique, adult thriller that seems to bore most of the reviewers so far, making me think that they're all mostly adolescent-type viewers. While not a perfect film noir, AFTER DARK, MY SWEET is a particularly unusual one in that it uses bright atmospherics as opposed to the standard dark ones used to enhance the downward decadence of the material. This picture was made at a time when pulp novelist Thompson was getting a bit of a revival on screen, with a remake of THE GETAWAY and a nifty film version of THE GRIFTERS. The remarkable French film COUP DE TORCHON, also based on a Thompson novel (entitled POP. 1280) uses the same bright noir approach. AFTER DARK, MY SWEET stands admirably along side all these films as a relevant tribute to a writer who often exposed people's dark anxieties with tough, stylish precision! Check out the widescreen Artisan DVD for some nicely done and highly-recommended, adult moviemaking.

I see After Dark, My Sweet every couple of years and it is only slightly less stunning now compared to 10 years ago. 3 key points... Jason Patric's performance, or rather character. I haven't seen his performance in anything else that has been close, I thought at the time it was perfection. The mood. If you're familiar with the area it was shot in, the desolation and decay is conveyed with alarming accuracy. And an ending that has impact. Again, if you're in the mood.

If you're as huge of a fan of an author as I am of Jim Thompson, it can be pretty dodgy when their works are converted to film. This is not the case with Scott Foley's rendition of AFTER DARK MY SWEET. A suspenseful, sexually charged noir classic that closely follows and does great justice to the original text. Jason Patrick and Rachel Ward give possibly the best performances of their careers. And the always phenomenal Bruce Dern might have even toped him self with this one. Like Thompson's book this movie creates a dark and surreal world where passion overcomes logic and the double cross is never far at hand. A must see for all fans of great noir film. ****!!!