After Hours [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

I wanted to like this, but.........

So Surreal

BEWARE OF STRANGE WOMEN IN LATE NIGHT CAFES...

After Hours

After Hours

After Hours [1985] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Frank Aquilino , Victor Argo , Rosanna Arquette , Larry Block , and Verna Bloom
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Comedy | Comedy | Categories | DVD | Video
Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000286RNE
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.co.uk Review

This well-regarded cult film is a tense Kafka-esque tale concerning what happens to a likeable computer guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time in the city that never sleeps--New York. This is a New York infested with bizarre characters vividly brought to life by a once-in-a-lifetime cast. Griffin Dunne's wonderfully controlled comic performance as Paul Hackett is the glue that holds this increasingly surreal film together. Scorsese utilises a full array of independent and underground film techniques, including special film speed manipulations, angles and edits, deftly capturing the strange rhythms of an After-Hours New York City. Many will find the jokes clever and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Some, however, will find the film an excruciating series of staged circumstances setting up a sadistically cruel dark nightmare of horrors. And there are a few lines of dialogue so poorly written they remind you how unbelievable the thin story really is. But forgive the film these few lapses--overall it's a wild, surreal ride. The most offbeat character is the beehive-sporting, Monkee-obsessed neurotic played to perfection by Teri Garr. And the moment when Griffin Dunne uses his last quarter to play Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is" and dances with Verna Bloom while an angry mob searches SoHo for him is an inspired bit of lunacy. --Christopher J. Jarmick

Customer Reviews:

I wanted to like this, but................2007-04-13

After the failure of the King of Comedy, Scorsese needed to become inventive and became part of the 80s parade, which was his only way of encouraging people to look at his often hard-hitting and controversial pieces.

Produced by David Geffen and funded by his own company, The Geffen Company. After Hours was born.

Paul works in an office and when in a bar late at night, meets a girl who wants him to come over to her place. Problem, is this is where the nightmare begins..........

Scorsese's direction emphasised New York's dark abandoned hideaways, the dirt, the flith and an entrepreneur yuppie obbessive society. This is credited as a semi-indie underground work. After Hours seems to be a very weird piece, where it seems Paul is sacrified by giving into strangers he doesn't know, a string of others follows and he cannot think straight nor know properly how to escape the situation. Neno plays a big part, it is striking to the eye, the flashy colours also indicate a place of comfort, warm and safety, a place for redemption.

I wanted to like After Hours, but the film is tugged along, too many things happen at once and it is "very" difficult to keep up or even understand. After Hours is rather tedious because of this, as well as the material becoming patchy once half away through and the entertainment value slowly loses it's value. After Hours also looks very dated nowadays and i'm very surprised nobody on amazon has brought this up, which is probably another reason why my viewing was disturbed. It's odd, maybe too odd for someone like me. A middle of the road film that doesn't quite click.

I will however not critise what Scorsese has done here, this is "still" misunderstood and is best suited as a good study aid into how people see relationships, fear and redemption for their film studies courses at University.

So Surreal.......2006-12-10

I agree with the previous reviewers. The first time I watched this film (and the best)was in the wee small hours one night when, as it happens, I couldnt sleep.
The dream-like situations, with an all too familiar nightmarish background of being chased for no apparent reason, are executed with all the consummate skill of a director at the top of his game. The cast are terrific too.
Despite its low profile, this film deserves to be better known and will always be amongst favourites. Something of a bargain too!

BEWARE OF STRANGE WOMEN IN LATE NIGHT CAFES..........2005-07-07

The most important thing I can say to you about After Hours is - BUY THIS NOW! Probably Martin Scorceses' most underrated film and arguably his best. Weird, unnerving, tense (especially when the hero looks like the Mr Whippy lynch mob have finally cornered him. Sorry, you'll have to see the film), but most of all funny. Imagine all the weirdest nights out you've ever had, try to remember some of the strange people you've met over the years and then think for a moment what it would be like to have all that weirdness and strangeness come together on just ONE NIGHT. Well, that's what After Hours is about, the weirdest and strangest night you could ever have. Fantastic film! 10/10

After Hours.......2005-06-28

So glad to see that many others have enjoyed this dark, surreal Scorcese masterpiece. Every turn our hero takes leads him to yet another dilemma.A truly fun and fantastic film from start to finish with all round superb performances from a fine cast.

After Hours.......2005-03-02

After Hours is maybe one of the strangest films I have ever seen. It begins extremely extremely slowly and I almost gave up on it after half an hour or so, all I can say having watched it to the end is that I'm very glad I didn't.

The storyline is one night in the life of lonely office worker Paul Hackett, played by Griffin Dunne whom film buffs will remember from "American Werewolf in London". Enticed by a pretty girl he takes up her offer of a date at her apartment and this seemingly innocent act sets off a series of wacky and weird events that keep poor Paul on the run all night.

The characters Paul meets on his topsy turvey journey are the key to the film, although they are to a man slightly wacky and off-beat, it is their humaneness that keeps you interested. Nearly all show some sort of kindness to Paul although most of it backfires.

What really made the film relevant to me is the fact that you can live in a huge major city and be surrounded by people all day long and yet never actually meet these same people. The film is the exact feeling you get when after a heavy night out you find yourself having an in-depth conversation with someone you never normally would. And nine times out of ten the conversation is one of the best you've ever had!

Certainly not a film for everyone as no doubt the quirkiness will turn some people off but it's definitely original and well worth a watch.

Customer Reviews:

54 years since coronation - a wonderful reminder of a glorious and exceptional day.......2007-10-05

I suppose most of us have known only one Queen: Elisabeth II. She was already on the throne when I was not even born. When she was crowned in 1953 the world was so much different from today's world. The changes have effected as well the monarchy. Then The Queen was rather untouchable and revered, today one asks how long the monarchy will survive. Will there ever be another coronation or a coronation of this kind? We will see... So this DVD is a wonderful reminder of a glorious and exceptional day. It is wonderful to see. I enjoyed it, even though it seems to be so out-dated, or maybe just because of this? I am sure you will enjoy it too

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