After Hours (1985)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mark H

  
  After Hours is an absolute delight. The theme concerns one night in New York City, and although what transpires could happen in any major metropolitan area, the trappings are distinctly New York. It's funny how Scorsese is able to satirize the city while still celebrating its… More
  After Hours is an absolute delight. The theme concerns one night in New York City, and although what transpires could happen in any major metropolitan area, the trappings are distinctly New York. It's funny how Scorsese is able to satirize the city while still celebrating its cosmopolitan atmosphere. The genius is the method in which the action slowly unfolds getting progressively more ridiculous as time goes on. We sense something is amiss right from the very start. Notice how Marcy's roommate Kiki answers the phone when he rings her up. Kiki's disembodied voice dripping with annoyance. That's merely the beginning. His odyssey becomes nightmarish in its development. The brilliance is that he takes the saga to places we don't anticipate. Creatively building layer upon layer of insanity to form a perfectly realized vision of hell on earth. It's hilarious, weird and uncomfortable at once. Throughout it all, Dunne grounds the picture in an air of normalcy that radiates safety for the viewer. And just when you fear that this cruel paean to the Big Apple cannot end in any meaningful way, it does. The story comes full circle intelligently referencing events we've seen before. It's an intricately constructed tale that simply gets better with age.

• Chris W

  
  Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) is your average 1980s New York yuppie. One night after work he has a chance encounter with a woman whom he makes a bit of a connection with. A little while later he decides to meet up with her in SoHo. As soon as he starts making his way to the… More
  Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) is your average 1980s New York yuppie. One night after work he has a chance encounter with a woman whom he makes a bit of a connection with. A little while later he decides to meet up with her in SoHo. As soon as he starts making his way to the neighborhood though, what should have been a straightforward and simple "date" of sorts turns into a bizarre madcap misadventure where Paul's attempts to get back home get weirder and worse as the night goes on. Plotwise, that's pretty much it: guy goes out, tries to go home, shit hits the fan. The movie is a delightfully odd and darkly funny trip through the nuttier side of urban life in the wee hours of the morning. It's less of a character study, than a study in weirdness propelled by some increasingly ecclectic and odd characters, played by an impressive lineup of performers including Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Cheech and Chong, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara among others. This is an atypical film for Scorsese, and it seems weird at first having him direct something like this. It's not really his thing, and seems more like the perfect fit for the Coen Brothers. Yet, while watching it, the viewer realizes that, atypical or not, Scorsese is the right fit for such a project because he knows New York, he knows New York at night, and he's great at having movies that have a nightmarish tone filled lots of paranoia and craziness. What makes it stick out is the overall tone, the dark comedy element. This is probably the closest Scorsese will come to making a comedy, even if it isn't a "pure" one per se. I've mentioned some of the actors who play the side characters, but let's diiscuss their performances. They're great. All of them. Dunne excels as playing the increasingly harried and Kafkaesque protagonist Paul, while all the others do a godo job (and have lots of fun) playing all sorts of odd balls whose actions aren't always explained. That's another element that really makes this film sing is that it leaves some things unexplained or untouched, and it works better as a result, and adds to the proceedings instead of being too vague for the sake of too vague. Howard Shore's music is both fun and perfectly fitting of the atmosphere, Michael Ballhaus has done some excellent work as cinematographer for a numebr of Scorsese films, and he adds another one to that list with his work here. The lighting, camera moves, and various neat angles are well executrd and only add to the film instead of being just for show. Thelma Schoonmaker does a great as usual job with the editing, and Scorsese does a terrific job with his directing, proving that, even with a slightly lighter tone than the rest of his work, he can still pull off something spectacular. Give this one a shot. it's weird, nutty, and all kinds of random, but it's hilarious, super entertaining, and extremely well made. Bravo.

• Lucas M

  
  Martin Scorsese's After Hours, it's a surreal and great black comedy, with a very good screenplay and actings. A film showing, that even in the most forgotten movie, Scorsese always is terrific.

• John H

  
  A hilarious, maniacal misadventure where every event is connected with each other.

• Phil H

  
  Unusual type of film for Mr Scorsese this one which he hasn't really been back to explore since which is a shame as this is one of those quirky interesting cult films that is pretty good, weird and bad all at once. Griffin Dunne is a great character actor and really shines here… More
  Unusual type of film for Mr Scorsese this one which he hasn't really been back to explore since which is a shame as this is one of those quirky interesting cult films that is pretty good, weird and bad all at once. Griffin Dunne is a great character actor and really shines here as a regular guy just trying to get home, although its his own fault he gets into all these sticky situations. A myriad of circumstances all rain down upon Dunne as he wanders from street to street in 80's New York (when NY was grotty too) which do leave you feeling quite uncomfortable or uneasy as he tries to solve problems and help people in order to gain trust or simply afew bucks to get the subway. Its brilliantly done by Scorsese as you really do feel for Dunne's character and find yourself talking to the screen as you get a hunch of the trouble that's coming his way, you just want him to get his keys back or finish one errend before he gets caught up in another hehe Great ensemble cast throughout with a perfect grimy almost spooky look and feel to it, not a perfect film gotta say, has its ups n downs, alittle dull in spots. I wonder why Dunne isn't in much else, he did this and 'American Werewolf' and that's about it really.

• AJ V

  
  A fantastically quirky comedy drama adventure movie from Scorsese. I loved it, it's very cool, and I highly recommend it.

• Aditya G

  
  Martin Scorsese never fails to amaze me! I have always believed that Stanley Kubrick is the only person who has managed to deliver masterpieces (note..not just 'good' films, but 'great' films) in diverse genres. I mean..let's face it; Scorsese's best… More
  Martin Scorsese never fails to amaze me! I have always believed that Stanley Kubrick is the only person who has managed to deliver masterpieces (note..not just 'good' films, but 'great' films) in diverse genres. I mean..let's face it; Scorsese's best and/or best-known pictures are either Crime dramas or grave character dramas or De Niro dramas! But with "After Hours" Scorsese proves that he can pull off a tongue-in-cheek dark comedy with lesser known actors pretty well. Written by Joseph Minion, this eventful tale called "After Hours" chronicles the strange experiences in the life of Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) occurring in one fateful night when just about everything seems to go wrong for him. It all begins in the late hours, with a chance conversation with an attractive girl Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) in a coffee shop. She mentions about staying with her friend, a sculptress, Kiki (Linda Fiorentino) who is also making and selling plaster of Paris paperweights the shape of donuts, bagels, etc! Paul is clearly more interested in the girl than in the paperweights and after going home for the night he calls up the number she gives him. To his joy she invites him over. A crazy cab ride and his accidental losing of his only $20 bill is only the beginning of the long chain of hellish misadventures that he goes through in the remainder of the night... Scorsese doesn't waste much time into getting right to it, and you are instantly sucked into the drama. There is something in the way he shoots his scenes..you just know that something exciting or different is going to happen any minute the moment he meets with Marcy in the shop. Even the smallest, most trivial of conversations seem to hold our interest! He captures New York City by night, beautifully, with the lit, empty streets partly wet with the rains, the empty diners and coffee shops just make you feel like going there and living the New York night! The otherwise bustling city that never sleeps gets an eerie ghost-town like feel! We are also introduced to a bunch of loony characters who all seem to be slight nutcases! So there's the peculiar looking taxi driver who drives at breakneck speed which makes the taxi ride seem like a roller coaster ride; Kiki the sculptress also comes across as anything but normal with her weird dressing sense and mannerisms; Marcy seems to have some emotional problems of her own.. There are a lot of such colourful characters that Paul meets in his night of a lifetime. These characters don't get much screen time yet they are so well written, cast and directed that they stay in your memory long after the film has ended. That is where the Scorsese magic lies; he knows how to make the best of the characters he has at hand and does a wonderful job of smoothly fitting them all in this strange narrative. A particularly interesting character in this oddball ensemble is the poker-faced bouncer (Clarence Felder) at the gates of the nightclub 'Club Berlin' who looks like an ogre and mouths seemingly senseless dialog while denying a frustrated Paul an entry into the club. But like other films in the genre, "After Hours" is yet another comedy that has to rely on that magical phenomenon called "chance" to further its story. So it is no surprise really that SoHo (the place where most of the events happen) is an extremely small place and Paul just happens to cross paths with several individuals at least twice in a single night! Furthermore these several individuals also happen to run into each other at other times! Add to that the fact that by sheer coincidence, some of these individuals even know each other very well! The convenient twists like these do tend to mar the viewing experience slightly, but not entirely! That apart, Griffin Dunne is excellent in the only role I've seen him in! Familiar faces like the hot Rosanna Arquette, the not-so-hot Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O'Hara and Cheech Marin appear briefly in this crazy venture that is so unlike anything Scorsese has ever done before. Scorsese does his trademark cameo too in one hysterically funny scene. Do watch "After Hours", Scorsese's depiction of one wild night in our unlucky hero's life, for all its craziness. It will certainly keep you captivated right 'til the even nuttier yet clever climax...

• Arash X

  
  Easily my favourite Scorsese film after Taxi Driver, A fun nightmarish ride that never goes overboard, Griffin Dunne is perfect as the main character

• Tsubaki S

  
  Fun film, seems that this has more imitatiors from what i can remember. Linda Fiorentino is topless too.

• Conner R

  
  A really underrated Scorsese film in my opinion. It's got such an interesting and multilayered plot. The acting was really good and the characters are very believable. It's such a bizarre story that is really sort of frightening at times. The offbeat humor and dysfunctional… More
  A really underrated Scorsese film in my opinion. It's got such an interesting and multilayered plot. The acting was really good and the characters are very believable. It's such a bizarre story that is really sort of frightening at times. The offbeat humor and dysfunctional romance was fun to watch.

• Anthony L

  
  Although I love Goodfellas, Raging Bull and all of Scorsese's great films, After Hours has to be my favourite of his. A man get trapped on the wrong side of town and can't get home, a very simple premise but a brilliant starting point for what is a real bizarre cult film… More
  Although I love Goodfellas, Raging Bull and all of Scorsese's great films, After Hours has to be my favourite of his. A man get trapped on the wrong side of town and can't get home, a very simple premise but a brilliant starting point for what is a real bizarre cult film full of twists and hilarity. Highly recommended!

• Derek D

  
  This is almost forgettable as a Scorcese film for any number of reasons, as it's not a mob flick and doesn't star or co-star DeNiro or Keitel. It centers around a guy who runs out on his "date" and finds himself running into all kinds of problems just trying to get… More
  This is almost forgettable as a Scorcese film for any number of reasons, as it's not a mob flick and doesn't star or co-star DeNiro or Keitel. It centers around a guy who runs out on his "date" and finds himself running into all kinds of problems just trying to get home. Every roadblock he runs into is somehow tied to somebody he met earlier or something he experienced earlier in the film. It's almost Lynchian in it's portrayal of nightlife and a man about to lose his mind, but it's tight-knit enough to be a P.T. Anderson movie as well. Griffin Dunne is so good in this, that's it's hard to believe he didn't amount to much else except Quiz Show and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Pretty enjoyable.

• Chris G

  
  Have you ever had a bad day. You know, a day that just moves from one catastrophe to another and it seems like no matter what you try fate has decided to defecate on you for a period of time. After Hours is a look at one poor processor's nine hours from hell. Paul Hackett… More
  Have you ever had a bad day. You know, a day that just moves from one catastrophe to another and it seems like no matter what you try fate has decided to defecate on you for a period of time. After Hours is a look at one poor processor's nine hours from hell. Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) works in a typical, dull office in Manhattan living a life that real consists of get up, go to work, get up, go to work. It's a sad existence and he knows it. But one evening he meets Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) at a coffee shop and winds up calling her and setting up a date for late that night. Traveling to this date is actually his decent into the hell that he'll experience After Hours. The story has poor Paul going from one bad situation to another such as being hunted by what can be described as a very active neighborhood watch group that thinks he's the local burglar. After Hours builds on each catastrophe as the film rolls on. Paul isn't an idiot either. Quickly he wants to go home and get out of SoHo. Fate takes care of that, too. The subway fares went up at midnight. Poor Paul. Martin Scorsese delivers another classic New York film where the city is still a character unto itself. No other director can use a city so effectively as Scorsese. It's a silent entity watching Paul get pummeled by life in Griffin Dunne's great neurotic performance. After Hours isn't one of Scorsese's best films, but it's a look at how fate likes to screw with you.

• Ken S

  
  Sweet joyous Scorsese, this movie is delightful. <br/><br/>A dark comic romp through the streets of 80's New York. <br/><br/>Ballhaus's camera work is almost giddy with energy.

• Lafe F

  
  A funny set of events and one wild night in New York. It's an urban nightmare which doesn't get too nasty, but I really felt sorry for the Griffin Dunne, whose luck worked against him each scene.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Scorsese's take on a Kafkian comedy with deranged proportions, one of his most underrated and unknown little gems.

• Dean !

  
  A rare cult film, very dark humour but a great film. Track it down and watch it!

• xGary X

  
  A typically wacky and surreal "adventure" when an ordinary guy gets caught up in the off beat antics of a collection of "zany" characters when he strays out of his own neighbourhood. This type of film is invariably desperately unfunny, and despite an above par cast… More
  A typically wacky and surreal "adventure" when an ordinary guy gets caught up in the off beat antics of a collection of "zany" characters when he strays out of his own neighbourhood. This type of film is invariably desperately unfunny, and despite an above par cast and director, this is no exception.

• Michael S

  
  One of Scorsese's Best.

• Michael G

  
  Proof that Scorsese can make a great movie without DeNiro starring. A great cast and a very fun movie.

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