After Hours

After Hours follows protagonist Paul Hackett as he has the worst night of his life. After spontaneously going on a date, Paul tries to go home. However, obstacles and circumstances keep preventing this. For every hurdle he clears, two more bigger challenges pop up. He must juggle dealing with what seems to be countless problems at once in order to go home and get some rest, until the stakes are raised and his life is at stake.

I’d seen this film before, and honestly I think it was slightly better in my memory of it (don’t get me wrong, I still loved it). This had always been a movie I thought of as so wild and unbelievable and fantastical it was, and I think in my head I had forgotten how gritty and real it felt. While this exact scenario has never happened to anyone, I feel like everyone has had a night like this before – one that felt like nothing would go right and it would never end.

What a cool poster

Scorsese is, as to be expected, in peak form. The cinematography reflects Paul’s increasing paranoia and bewilderment, with long sweeping takes and occasional jump cuts. There’s so much done perfectly here. Marty is on an incredible run of three amazing films in a row.

It’s hard to say what exactly this film is about. It doesn’t seem to have a message to me, except that life is a cruel mistress.

Scorsese Rankings:

This film is a nightmare in the best way possible. It is different from anything I’ve ever seen because it is so outlandish and out-there, yet something similar could happen to you any day of the week.

  1. Taxi Driver
  2. The King of Comedy
  3. After Hours
  4. Raging Bull
  5. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
  6. Mean Streets
  7. Who’s That Knocking at My Door
  8. New York, New York
  9. Boxcar Bertha

Next week, Marty meets Tom Cruise and Paul Newman in The Color of Money. I’m excited to watch this one for the first time.