Night Club

I was privileged to see "Night Club" last evening at a World Premiere event at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Not only was it great to see such seasoned actors in this film like Ernest Borgnine and Mickey Rooney, and others, but I thought Sally Kellerman, who played Dorothy, portrayed the Alzheimer's patient perfectly. I had a Father who had Alzheimer's Disease and I could see in the demeanor of Dorothy who my Father had become before his death. I believe this is a movie that all of us who have aging parents must see! I also think that all those that work in nursing homes, especially the administrators and owners of these care facilities should see this film, it will help to open up their eyes to possibilities of care and caring. There is more to care in a treatment facility than having our elders just sit around till their lives end and we know like in this movie many of them are doing just that. We will all find ourselves growing older in time with the possibility of having to enter a nursing home, if we begin now to improve the quality of care in these facilities we can look forward to being cared for in a manner with dignity and love as these three young students in this movie ended up doing. Before these care facilities were implemented we had families caring for our elderly, there is no reason a nursing home cannot feel like "home", after all they are called nursing "homes".

I believe this movie could make an impact on how we treat our elders, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles when they get near the end of their lives and need assistance with everyday living.

Kudos to the Director: Sam Borowski, Writers: Larry Delrose and Tom Hass, and the Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Mickey Rooney, Sally Kellerman, Madison Liddy, and all the others who were willing to put in their time and effort to produce a well scripted and well portrayed film.

I saw this film last year at the Newport film festival. I had high expectations from the highly seasoned cast and was greatly disappointed. The negative parts that stood out were, 1. the lighting (was terrible )2. The cinematography was at best amateurish 3. The script, the acting and especially the Direction was sub par, and thats being kind. I truly thought it was a very low budget ,film school production. i really don't understand the glowing reviews UNLESS this movie was completely re-cut and edited , but i doubt that could salvage it.. The much earlier reviews of this reflect my experience with this film. I wanted to love this film and then I saw it and Oy gevalt it was painful. I would not be surprised if the glowing reviews were somehow connected with the filmmakers or actors, which would be unconscionable, were that the case. I cannot see how an honest, objective person can see this film and be pleased with it. Even the awards are questionable. I don't get it. The earlier reviews pretty much are spot on.

What can I say about Nigh Club? The film had heart, I'll give it that... but even that had little effect on my opinion, as any emotion that may have been produced by this films good intentions were quickly overpowered by a never ending stream of terrible dialog, God-awful cinematography, and poor acting. The film's title essentially sums up the movie, a night club is created for the elderly at a local rest home, and the protagonist masterminds this whole thing is so dis-likable, that you often find yourself hoping he fails, just so you can breathe a sigh of relief. A weak and unsupported romance also follows our hero throughout the film, and only in the end (after receiving a million dollars) does she finally come back to him... (AHEM!) can anybody say terrible timing? Aside from the apparent money hungry hussy, it was clear the director did not plan out any of the small details that would have made this film believable.

-Jim

Sally Kellerman, Ernest Borgnine, Rance Howard, Mickey Rooney, Jan Rooney, Paul Sorvino, and Chuck McCann. Those are just a few of the classic Hollywood actors that Sam Borowski's Night Club has to offer. Don't mistake those roles as throw away paychecks though, as every single actor named puts in a performance worthy of Oscar Buzz. No film you will see this year can offer as much heart, soul, poignancy, humor, and joy. The film is something of a miracle that combines beautiful cinematography, solid writing, and assured direction to create a film, along with excellent acting, that will give you your money's worth and more. Independent film takes a step forward with Night Club and its up and coming director Sam Borowski. If you have older people in your life this films is for you, if you enjoy college age shenanigans this film is for you, and if you grew up in the 80's or love the films of that time this film is surely for you. I fell in love with Night Club the second I heard a new (excellent) rendition of Quarterflash's Night Shift put over top of a great opening montage. The film is reminiscent of a film called Night Shift which paved the way for Ron Howard and Michael Keaton (director and actor respectively). I say this because Sam Borowski and first time actor Bryan Williams combine their talents to light up the screen. The film is shot so well, set to a fantastic soundtrack (very 80's inspired) and score that you will not be disappointed by its independent budget. I haven't talked about the plot but if you read the plot summary that's all you need to know going in, because the film grabs you immediately and never lets go. Besides excellent performances from Kellerman and Borgnine Ahney Her and Bryan Williams'(previously mentioned) on-screen chemistry is comedy gold and proves that the two of them are here to stay in this business and I cannot wait to see them in all of their upcoming projects. Sam Borowski delivers a crazy-impressive first feature film and one not to be missed by every audience member of the four quadrants. Seek this film out at whatever theater or film festival you can (Newport Beach is the only one announced yet (I doubt only for long though)) because you won't regret it and in fact the film will touch you deeper than you thought possible. So do yourself a favor and don't make a Big Mistake and see Night Club and fall in love with it just like I did.

"Night Club" is the most awkwardly edited and filmed movie I have ever been forced to sit through. The plot line, about three friends who work in a nursing home to turn it into a terrible night club, is ridiculous and ill-thought out. It seemed overall that there was no point or main message to carry out. The action and events moved so cripplingly slow that the audience could have easily lost interest within the first ten minutes.

Though there were different levels of acting in this movie, it could have improved if the director guided the actors better or paid more attention to the dialogue. The dialogue ruined the movie when the actors kept on overly stressing clichéd humor, and there was almost no music or sounds at all. Only when the story moves outside is there any kind of background noises or melodies at all. Plus the camera direction was amateurish and too shaky, and all mainly composed of close-ups, which made it easy to become bored with the activity going on on screen.

So in summary, this movie didn't work because the thematic elements clashed or yielded adverse, unintentional bad effects to the eyes and ears of the audience. The misguided acting, dialouge, editing, plot line, and lack of sounds were not pleasing. No wonder why the picture didn't make it to the big screen, or even why I didn't sit through it the whole way through.