Into the Night (1985) Universal Pictures/Action-Comedy RT: 115 minutes Rated R (language, some bloody violence, brief nudity, sexual content, drug references) Director: John Landis Screenplay: Ron Koslow Music: Ira Newborn Cinematography: Robert Paynter Release date: March 10, 1985 (US) Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dan Aykroyd, Bruce McGill, David Bowie, Richard Farnsworth, Vera Miles, Roger Vadim, Irene Papas, Clu Gulager, Kathryn Harrold, Paul Mazursky, Carl Perkins, Stacey Pickren, Art Evans, Jake Steinfeld, Carmen Argenziano, John Landis, Michael Zand, Hadi Sadjadi, Beruce Gramian. Box Office: $7.5M (US)
Rating: ***
Quite honestly, I don’t think Into the Night is all that bad of a movie. True, it’s not up to the standard of some of John Landis’ other movies, but we’re talking about classic comedies like Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places and Coming to America. How could any movie possibly measure up to any of those?
When taken on its own terms, Into the Night proves to be an entertaining action-comedy about an insomniac who finds his life turned upside down after helping out a beautiful lady in trouble. Ed Okin (Goldblum, The Big Chill) can’t sleep a wink at night. He works a dead-end job (he’s an aerospace engineer) and he’s just found out that his wife (Pickren) is having an affair with one of her co-workers. On the suggestion of his work friend Herb (Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers), he drives to the airport with the intention of taking a midnight flight to Las Vegas. It’s supposed to add an element of excitement to his life. Turns out he doesn’t even need to leave the airport parking lot for that; it literally jumps right onto the hood of his car. That would be Diana (Pfeiffer, Scarface) who’s being chased by the four Iranian hoods that just killed her male companion. She jumps into Ed’s car and asks him to get her out of there quickly.
It’s just the start of an overnight adventure that finds Ed and Diana encountering dangerous bad guys at every twist and turn. They’re all after the same thing, six perfect emeralds from the Shah of Iran’s treasury that Diana smuggled into the country. Over the course of 36 hours, they also encounter a smooth-talking hit man (Bowie, The Hunger), a Frenchman named Melville (director Vadim) and a wealthy Iranian woman (Papas, Zorba the Greek).
There’s a lot going on in Into the Night, but the movie’s uneven pacing makes the proceedings seem somewhat less interesting. For example, the movie stops dead in its tracks about three or four times so somebody can explain what’s going on. This proves to be more of a hindrance than a help. What saves the movie is the wonderful chemistry between the two leading actors. Goldblum’s deadpan style is perfect for the reluctant hero at the center of the action. Pfeiffer is a gifted comic actress in addition to being very beautiful. Together, they make a pretty good team. It really makes the viewer wish that the movie itself was better. It’s good, but it should have been great given all the talent involved.
The most notable thing about Into the Night is the large amount of cameo appearances by supporting actors and various filmmakers. The supporting cast includes Bruce McGill (D-Day from Animal House) as Diana’s Elvis impersonator brother, Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story) as Diana’s very wealthy lover; Vera Miles (Psycho) as his bitchy wife, Kathryn Harrold (The Sender) as Diana’s actress friend, rockabilly musician Carl Perkins as a henchman, Dedee Pfeiffer (The Allnighter) as a hooker and fitness expert Jake Steinfeld as a houseboat sitter. It looks like Landis threw a party and invited nearly every notable filmmaker and director he could find.
Here’s who else you will see in Into the Night: Jack Arnold (It Came from Outer Space), makeup artist Rick Baker, Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul), David Cronenberg (Videodrome), Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), Richard Franklin (Psycho II), screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (Jaws), Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Muppet creator Jim Henson, Colin Higgins (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill), Jonathan Lynn (Clue), Paul Mazursky (Down and Out in Beverly Hills), Daniel Petrie (Six Pack), screenwriter Waldo Salt (Midnight Cowboy) and Don Siegel (Dirty Harry). It’s fun to play “Spot the Celebrity”, but it looks like Landis paid more attention to this aspect of the movie than any other. It’s kind of like Cannonball Run for movie buffs and Hollywood insiders. I liked this part of the movie, but I don’t think the more casual viewer will care for it.
With all these different people running around, one might think that Into the Night is a real mess. It is a little bit, but it’s the entertaining kind of mess. Like I said, it’s fun to play “Spot the Celebrity”. It has its share of funny moments, but not all of the gags work. Some of them fall flat because Landis takes too long to set them up. There’s also the problem of the movie’s uneven tone. Take the Iranian hoods; Landis depicts them as babbling incompetent fools. It’s fun to watch them act like the Four Stooges. However, they’re also cold-blooded killers. In one scene, they chase down an attractive woman on the beach and drown her in the ocean. Of course they stop to remove their shoes before getting in the water. How can you laugh at something like that?
Into the Night is set in Los Angeles and Landis includes many familiar landmarks like Randy’s Donuts, the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Tiffany’s and (of course) LAX. The movie also boasts a great soundtrack that includes three songs by blues superstar B.B. King (“Into the Night”, “My Lucille” and a cover of “In the Midnight Hour”).
Overall, I like Into the Night. It’s more interesting than it is hilarious. Of course, I’m a movie geek and it’s definitely something that I would find interesting. What about the average film viewer? Will he/she like it? That’s hard to say, but I’m going to say probably not. In which case, Into the Night may be the most expensive home movie EVER!
