Night Shift

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."

"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.

They don't seem to make comedies like this anymore, but thankfully, they did once. "Night Shift," directed by Ron Howard, stars Michael Keaton, Henry Winkler, and Shelley Long. Winkler plays Chuck Lumley, a securities broker who may have had a nervous breakdown - anyway, he has taken a job at the morgue so he can be in a quiet place. When he's transferred to the night shift, it ruins his time with his eternally dieting fiancée (Gina Hecht).

Worse than that, Chuck's quiet is shattered by a new employee, Bill Blazejowski (Keaton), who talks into a tape recorder and runs a limo service using the hearses. When Chuck's attractive neighbor, Belinda, a hooker, is in need of a pimp, Bill gathers her and her friends, and he and Chuck run a prostitution service out of the morgue. They take much less of a cut than the average pimp, and Chuck invests their money for them, and gets health insurance for them.

This is a really fun movie, with a terrific performance by Keaton as a wild man whose sense of adventure is infectious to the down and out Winkler. Winkler is the anti-Fonz, and he's wonderful. I had the pleasure of interviewing him once. He's one of the warmest, most natural people one could ever meet. Shelley Long is both funny and sympathetic as Belinda.

Very entertaining.

In my humble opinion, Ron Howard should have tried directing R rated comedies more often during his career as he shows here to have a real knack for it. Written by frequent collaborators Lowell Ganz and "Babaloo" Mandel, and marking an early joint effort for him and producer Brian Grazer, "Night Shift" is not only an agreeably saucy film, but the writers and director are also able to mine this material for a lot of heart, and the actors create likable, memorable characters. Howards' 'Happy Days' co-star Henry Winkler shines in a part far removed from that of the ultra-cool Fonz. He's Chuck Lumley, a timid, nerdy type who got stressed out working as an investment counselor and sought the peace and quiet of working in the city morgue. This doesn't last long when he's forced to work the night shift and partnered with wild man Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski (Michael Keaton, in one hell of a film debut), a talkative "idea man". Among his ideas are edible paper, therefore cutting down on garbage, and feeding mayonnaise to tunafish. Anyway, things take a bizarre turn for Chuck after he's made friends with Belinda (Shelley Long), a sweet hooker who's moved into his building. Her pimp has been knocked off and now her johns are taking advantage of her. So after some thought he agrees to Bills' idea that they should become the pimps for Belinda and all of her gal pals. This is great fun all the way through, with Keaton completely stealing the show as Blaze, and getting most of the good lines. Long admittedly makes for a rather unlikely hooker, but she still has a lot of appeal here and does look very nice cooking eggs in her underwear. The film does go on for quite a bit but is entertaining enough that you don't feel that much time going by. An impressive amount of familiar faces fill out supporting and bit parts: Gina Hecht, Pat Corley, Bobby Di Cicco, Nita Talbot, Howards' brother Clint, Joe Spinell, Richard Belzer, Grand L. Bush, Charles Fleischer, Vincent Schiavelli, Michael Pataki, Howard himself in dual cameo roles, Shannen Doherty, and Kevin Costner (you have to be quick to spot him) as a frat boy. Good score (by Burt Bacharach) and songs (by Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager); the songs include "That's What Friends Are For", sung by Rod Stewart, years before it was a hit for Dionne Warwick & Friends.

Here's just a couple of lines to pique your interest:

"This is Chuck to remind Bill to SHUT UP!" "Call Star-Kist." "Oh, that Barney Rubble...what an actor!" "LOOOVE brokers!"

All in all, it's an 80s comedy worth seeking out or rediscovering.

Eight out of 10.

Adam Sandler and Pauly Shore can only DREAM of being as funny as Michael Keaton in "Night Shift." Keaton's hilarious performance only serves to underscore the fact that he's never been near as funny since.

Sure, the movie will never be in the AFI's top 100 list. But when I was 18, a loony pre-college me dreamed of being as funny as Billy Blaizejowski, Keaton's character in the film. I credit the script for great lines, but I doubt anyone could have made an annoying character like Billy loveable - except Keaton.

Henry Winkler does a bang-up job with a straight role that affords audiences little to get excited about. He is completely convincing as an in-over-his-head nebbish with a nervous stomach, and deserves credit for pulling it off without seeming whiny. We identify with Winkler's character even though we can see how cowardly he is.

The plot, of course, is contrived, as is any plot involving hookers with hearts of gold. It's hard to see Shelly Long as a prostitute, but she plays it gamely and has fun with the role.

I recommend this film if you have any craziness to your sense of humor, or just if you're a male between the ages of 17 and 25. That's the target audience, but even in my mid-30's, I still find Keaton's performance refreshing and laugh-out-loud funny.