Night Shift - Turno di notte

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.

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.

Very funny comedy from Ron Howard. Winkler and Keaton are a great duo and they team up very successfully from what I see. The whole premise is completely absurd, but you never know, it could happen. Nonetheless, engaging performances and great humor serve up a very good film. 9/10

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."

The basic structure of Night Shift is really familiar stuff but the main idea here is really unique and results in a really good comedy that gets enough good laughs out of it across the run time bolstered by a strong central trio and easygoing direction that makes the whole thing more enjoyable.

Henry Winkler's mild mannered nature is ideal to lead the film in contrast to everything around him and his growing confidence is really fun. Shelley Long really humanises a character who could have easily been two dimensional and Michael Keaton rounds out the core three in terrific fashion.

In his first film role Keaton shows why he's become and remains a truly dynamic screen presence with an incredible amount of energy from his first appearance and a level of comedic timing that is impeccable every single time. Almost all of the best jokes here are his.

Ron Howard's direction compliments everything else nicely, there's nothing groundbreaking here but there's some clever flourishes and framing that enhances the humour. It opens pretty strong as well, setting up a lot of different aspects with an engaging chase sequence.