Night Game (1989) Trans World Entertainment/Suspense-Thriller RT: 92 minutes Rated R (language, violence, brief partial nudity) Director: Peter Masterson Screenplay: Spencer Eastman and Anthony Palmer Music: Pino Donaggio Cinematography: Fred Murphy Release date: September 15, 1989 (US) Cast: Roy Scheider, Karen Young, Richard Bradford, Paul Gleason, Carlin Glynn, Lane Smith, Anthony Palmer, Alex Morris, Matt Carlson, Rex Linn, Alex Garcia, Michelle Cochran, Tony Frank, Kevin Cooney, Lisa Hart Carroll, Renee O’Connor, Dee Hennigan, Sarah Chattin, Bethany Wright. Box Office: $337,812 (US)
Rating: ***
Here’s a few things about Night Game that will surely be of interest to trivia buffs:
– The crime thriller represents a Jaws reunion of sorts in that it stars series alumni Roy Scheider of 1 & 2 and Karen Young of Jaws: the Revenge. I guess nobody from Jaws 3D was available to complete the ensemble.
– The two titles showing at the cinema where Scheider drops Young’s character, Full Moon in Blue Water and Kansas, were both released by Trans World Entertainment. In addition, Full Moon was also directed by Peter Masterson. Can you say “shameless self-promotion”?
– If the Houston Astrodome looks familiar to non-sports fans, that’s because it’s where the Bad News Bears played the climactic game in Breaking Training. Come on, let’s hear it…… “Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!”
– Co-star Carlin Glynn also starred in the original Broadway production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas which was co-written by her husband Masterson.
It’s quite possible that none of the above will be of interest to anybody since almost nobody remembers Night Game, a standard-issue police thriller about a Texas homicide detective on the hunt for a serial killer. It didn’t exactly hit a home run during its brief limited theatrical run in mid-September 1989. It didn’t even make it to first. I know it didn’t open here in Philadelphia. I had to wait until it came out on video the following summer to get my turn at bat.
I’m sure my frequent baseball references haven’t escaped your notice. That’s because America’s favorite pastime plays a significant role in Night Game. A series of gruesome killings have the citizens of Galveston all shook up. The governor’s office is all over the local police chief (Bradford, The Untouchables) to solve the case quickly. Detective Mike Seaver (Scheider), a former minor league player, is determined to catch the killer. He’s hampered in his investigation by the sheriff’s department and the governor’s office, represented respectively by Broussard (Gleason, Die Hard) and Witty (Smith, Over the Edge). Eventually, he figures out the killings are somehow connected to nighttime home games played by the Houston Astros.
Murder isn’t the only thing on Seaver’s mind. His upcoming wedding to fiancee Roxy (Young) has been hijacked by her meddling mother (Glynn) trying to turn it into the social event of the season. All the couple wants is a simple ceremony followed by a small party, but that’s not good enough for the bride’s high-maintenance mama who makes no attempt whatsoever to hide her dislike of Seaver. It sounds to me like he’s safer facing off against a psycho killer than a psycho future MIL.
There’s nothing especially outstanding or even original about Night Game. It’s the same old story about a burnt-out cop trying to nab a serial killer even though the odds are clearly stacked against him. Seaver used to be with Dallas PD, but some unspecified thing happened that caused him to get sent down to the minors. The plot is laden with the usual false leads and red herrings. The climax has Roxy being pursued by the killer while Seaver races to save her. And so it goes.
Masterson, whose directorial credits also include 1985’s The Trip to Bountiful (co-starring wife Glynn), does a decent job with Night Game. The screenplay by Spencer Eastman and Anthony Palmer is strictly by-the-numbers, but Masterson’s capable handing of the material makes it seem less so. He doesn’t tip his hand too early in revealing the killer’s identity or motive. He takes the audience on a familiar ride through dead ends and possible but unlikely suspects until reaching a destination you might or might not seeing coming. I didn’t see it coming myself, but it has been more than 30 years since I saw the movie. I honestly didn’t remember much about Night Game which is partly why I decided to rewatch it.
I’ll say this for Night Game; it has a great cast. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Roy Scheider give a bad performance. I can’t think of a single instance where the late actor didn’t bring his A-game. And I’m talking more than the movies he’s most known for- The French Connection, Jaws 1 & 2 and All That Jazz (he should have won Best Actor for it). If you haven’t already, check out Sorcerer, Last Embrace, 52 Pick-Up, Cohen and Tate and The Fourth War. All GREAT! Young is good as Roxy, a woman clearly too young for Scheider’s character. She doesn’t like taking a back seat to his job and shows it by going to a local dive where she flirts and dances with other men. Gleason excels at playing a**holes and his character here is just that. He’s the kind of guy you just want to slap the s*** out of (to misquote 52 Pick-Up).
The score by Pino Donaggio is another plus. While not as awesome as the one he composed for The Barbarians, it’s still good. It ratchets up the suspense quite effectively.
I’m fascinated by nearly all aspects of film and one of my greatest areas of interest is the small fly-by-night studios that came and went in the 60s, 70s and 80s. One of them is Trans World. They were around for roughly ten years (1983-93) until they got involved in a scandal that ultimately brought about their death-by-foreclosure. In that time, their output included such titles as Creature (the Alien rip-off), Pray for Death (another Sho Kosugi ninja flick), The Curse (the icky sci-fi-horror starring Wil Wheaton), Killer Klowns from Outer Space (the cult classic), Teen Witch (no relation to Teen Wolf) and Honeymoon Academy (the Gene Quintano spy comedy with Roberts Hays and Kim Cattrall). Night Game is another one of theirs. Why would I be telling you any of this if it wasn’t?
All in all, Night Game is a pretty good flick. It brings nothing new to the genre, but it has a compelling story, a cool cast and a few good kill scenes. It’s a good way to kill a couple of hours when you’ve nothing better to do.
