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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated After Hours (1985) in Movies

Mar 5, 2020

After Hours (1985)

1985 | Comedy, Mystery

8.0

(4 Ratings)

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Scorsese's direction (2 more)

The quirky cameos

Griffin Dunne

Bad 80s music (0 more)

This is one of my absolute all time guilty secret films. Except guilty secret is wrong, because it is too good to be guilty. Perhaps it's better to say one of the most under-rated and under-seen films of the 80s. Forgotten by many and unknown by many more. When listing the best of Scorsese it is easy to overlook this lighter work, dismissing it as a diversion from his main oeuvre, but that is a shame...

Set over the course of one crazy night on New York, where everything goes wrong and spirals into one weird encounter after another, it is an allegory for lost direction and anxiety in a confusing time; chasing the rat race, money, dreams and love, only to fall down a never-ending rabbit hole. Watching the cameo appearances come and go is like doing an 80s B-movie checklist. Griffin Dunne himself has drifted into obscurity now - not that he was ever huge - and this remains the one thing he will perhaps always be known for.

I wonder if it would make any sense at all to anyone who can't remember the 80s first hand? For me it screams nostalgia for that time: the epitome of music, fashion and movie style back then. I recommend it in an unlikely double bill with Desperately Seeking Susan. Trust me.