All Night Long

A huge box office bomb upon release, ALL NIGHT LONG has been criticized by many for it's uncomfortable mix of odd-ball comedy and quaint slice-of-life drama. Though it received some positive reviews (most notably from Pauline Kael and ROLLING STONE magazine), most mainstream critics hated it and audiences all but completely ignored it. It is also often cited by most of Streisand's die-hard fans as their least favorite film of the actress. While the film is certainly not without it's flaws, I have interestingly always thought ALL NIGHT LONG contained somewhat of a bizarre charm, and I've always wished it would receive a re-evaluation from the film-going public.

As mentioned before, the film has it's problems. It's paced too leisurely (it's only 90-minutes in length, but feels more like two-and-a-half hours), Jean-Claude Tramont's direction is too light (the film needs more of a thematic punch in several scenes), and much of it's humor is surprisingly too subtle (odd seeing that most film comedies have the opposite problem). Having said all of that, the film is still worth checking out. Though Tramont's direction may be a tad too limp, his skewed perception of the American dream gives the film a dreamy, almost art house-like feel that makes the film more inherently interesting than the screen play would merit alone.

Also, the varied cast is a lot of fun, almost all of them playing against type. Gene Hackman brings a equal mix of unusual serenity and touching pathos to his role of the would-be inventor who manages to find his true self by losing nearly everything that was once-important in his life. In an early role, Dennis Quaid throws himself completely into part of Hackman's airheaded son, making the intelligent personae he would develop in later films like DREAMSCAPE and THE BIG EASY even more impressive. Barbra Streisand is clearly miscast the role of the bimbo housewife who woos both Hackman and Quaid (Streisand replaced Lisa Eichhorn, who was fired from the film after two weeks of production), but her performance is still worth catching. Though she's never totally believable as Cheryl (a role that was poorly-defined in the screenplay to begin with), she is still a very likable, always watchable, and occasionally an endearing presence in a unusual little film that deserves a second chance.

Everything about "All Night Long" is off and never turns on. Why is it always the films with the best people that wind up being so bad? In this film's case of wasted star talent, the victim here is Gene Hackman. He portrays a middle aged drug store employee who feels that he has squandered his life so he solves his boredom problems by going on little nighttime charades with the odd insomniacs who prowl the streets during late night. Hackman is extremely miscast in this kind of role and Barbra Streisand's presence doesn't help to save it either.

Streisand is on record saying ( god please let this be right and I"m not put on her TRUTH ALERT) website, that she was an Actress who sings.

For almost all her films, she acts, but is always being Streisand. In ALL NIGHT LONG, she's actually acting. And is pretty good at it.

Yet today people still look at it as a disaster and it's not. Not at all. Yet when all clips of Streisand were on display during the American Film Institute when she was honored, not one clip of ALL NIGHT LONG was shown. I don't know if she's ashamed of it (I would think she wouldn't be) or more than likely, she probably could care less.

Same here. ...Yet I'm taking time out to express my thoughts. That makes no sense.

Stuck-in-a-rut businessman Gene Hackman gets fed up with the rat race after being demoted from company executive to manager of an all-night convenience store. He longs to be an inventor (he creates a reverse-image mirror), and ends up divorcing his non-supportive wife over speculation he's having an affair with his teenage son's married girlfriend, a flighty sexpot in lavender chiffon. Comedy-drama has some early promise but not enough jokes, and it starts to sag just 40 minutes in. Hackman displays his effortless charm, and Barbra Streisand attempts something offbeat--though it's a gamble which doesn't quite pay off, as we never get a grip on her wispy Cheryl. The picture is a cracked egg: interesting conception and design, yet unsatisfactory. There are a handful of funny lines and trenchant bits of satire scattered about, and every scene in the drug store is ripe with possibilities which are then left unformed and unrealized. *1/2 from ****

Gene Hackman is completely winning as George Dupler, an average Joe who vents after repeatedly being passed over for promotion in his company. So he gets demoted to managing an all-night drugstore - a place with a decidedly weird clientele. He buys some trouble for himself when he pursues new acquaintance Cheryl Gibbons (Barbra Streisand), who's already been getting it on with Georges' teenage son Freddie (Dennis Quaid)!

Overall, an interesting venture for the stars that didn't really deserve to bomb so mightily in its time. It's flawed, to be sure (for one thing, it's not completely resolved to any real satisfaction), but it has a certain endearing quality. In that sense, it's much like the unconventional casting of Streisand here, who was a replacement for Lisa Eichhorn. (Supposedly, Gene and Lisa did not get along, which is one reason given why the switch was made.) But Babs is fairly likeable here, and much of the cast does fine work. "All Night Long" is just offbeat and loopy enough to be watchable, although it works better when depicting the strange folk who come out at night, rather than the romance at the centre of the plot. (The screenplay is by W.D. Richter, who more often than not has specialized in offbeat tales, like his directorial debut, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai in the Eighth Dimension".)

Hackman is the main reason to watch. He's at his most engaging, playing this middle aged man dealing with the various setbacks and nuances at this stage in his life. But there's a steady parade of familiar faces in supporting and bit parts to perk things up: Kevin Dobson, William Daniels, Hamilton Camp, Ann Doran, Raleigh Bond, Tandy Cronyn, Terry Kiser, Vernee Watson, Chris Mulkey, Richard Stahl, Bonnie Bartlett, etc.

In the almost 40 years since this release, Gene and Babs have expressed negativity towards the film if they indeed acknowledged it at all. And many Streisand fans denote it as a low point in her career. But the casual movie watcher might not be so harsh, and see this for what it is: a harmless, amiable trifle.

Six out of 10.