Pour une nuit...

LEAVING LAS VEGAS affected me like almost no other movie has, so I was bound to find this film somewhat of a let-down, but even I was surprised by how much. In his other films, Figgis has demonstrated he's a master with mood and atmosphere, and he's good here as well. The scene where Max and Karen first meet is nicely played, without too much foreshadowing thrown in. But this is a conventional plot, and try as he might, Figgis isn't able to make it interesting enough. And as much as I hate Joe Eszterhas (whose screenplay this is re-written from), I can't imagine his ending was any worse (or maybe this was his ending).

I'm not a big fan of Kinski to begin with, but to be fair, she has almost nothing to work with, and she does try. And I like Ming-Na Wen, but she's also stuck, she with a too-unsympathetic character. The men come off better; Snipes and MacLachlan are good, but really, the main reason this is worth watching is Robert Downey Jr., who avoids cliche even when his character is dying. Otherwise, you're left wondering, what the hell was the purpose here?

In this excellent movie we are told an apparently very simple story where life meets death, success crosses with failure, conjugal life redounds in adultery and love triumphs over it all though in a somewhat strange way. A man's best friend is dying of AIDS. He comes to visit him and that fact unchains a lot of coincidences and accidental events which will change some people's lives. This story is really made of factual coincidences but this circumstance far from being a flaw, is its backbone since life itself is full of strange coincidences and those shown here are not improbable. Life is really an orange like the dying man tells his best friend in his deathbed. What does this mean indeed? The answer is not given in the movie so it's up to you to find it by yourself. Another very important feature of the plot is the solid friendship between these two men which is revealed by some very moving deeds and circumstances. One last word for the sound track music which is also excellent and adequate to the atmosphere of the movie thus reinforcing it and making us feel it more deeply. And one last warning: prudes, abstain from seeing this movie because you will hate it not so much for certain scenes (as a matter of fact we have seen a lot of more explicit ones in a lot of famous movies) but because you won't be able to lay your moral prejudice aside in order to admire the beauty of this true love story or to understand its rather odd end. Is it important to say that the lovers' couple is here composed of a black man and a white woman (Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski who perform their roles very well)? I don't think so.

At first I had a knee jerk reaction to the fact that infidelity played a role in the rearrangement of people's lives. However, what got me off my high horse was Robert Downey Jr's character Charlie. Charlie was the equalizer in this film which brought everything and everyone together. The message became crystal clear as Charlie candle slowly burned out, but what better way could a man ask to leave this world. Charlie truly left us all with something to live on for, OUR HAPPINESS.... 9 out of 10

I don't know what it is with films but some capture the mood for me and some don't. 'Leaving Las Vegas' didn't but this did. So why? The latter didn't receive half the aclaim of the first, but somehow despite 'Las Vegas' being the more technically perfect film 'One Night Stand' was more a more interesting study of Human relationships and how real life is.

I don't think I have seen a better performance from Snipes and Robert Downey Jnr leaves me stunned at why he hasn't been given more leading roles. Downey Jnr is up there with the best of them when it comes to ability and 'Chaplin' should have led to a continuous stream of top dramatic billing, A small but again thoughtful performance from him, never totally stealing the limelight but always there as the part demanded. There are only a few actors that leave me wanting more because of the insight they brought to the character, Pacino, De Niro, Duvall, Hopkins, to name some, but also, strange as it may be, based on the few decent roles he has had, Downey Jnr.

Figgis brings to this film a mood that captivates. The dialogue levels are appalling in places (sound recordists when are you going to learn its no good spending millions on a movie and people working their guts out if we cant hear the bloody thing!) and the story a little rushed at times. It could be compared, for those of you who are musicians, to recording a piece of Jazz or R & B Live in a studio and then quantizing the track so that all the notes and rhythms are absolutely in time, they then sound too mechanical. A little rough round the edges can often make the difference and ironically make the film perfect.

I had a problem with the ending and couldn't figure out why. Then it struck me, when you look at the two dinner scenes it was plain that the foursome only worked with the second arrangement and the end was inevitable thus the attempt by Figgis to make a twist was lost on an audience who were already half expecting that to happen at the first dinner scene, me included.

So flaws aside I still enjoyed this film immensely and certainly give it an above average rating.

On a a final note has anyone seen so many lowly parts played by such reputable British actors, namely Julian Sands, Amanda Donohue, and Ione Skye!

The title of this movie(One Night Stand) may suggest that it's about "Cheating" but is something else,is about an instant attraction,the things occur spontaneously between Karen(Ms Kinski )and Max(Wesley Snipes)THEN just a memory of that perfect woman,then the re- encounter,the desire and passion appears again and then…surprise!LOVE!

Max and Karen are drawn together with both of them finding something in each other that had been lacking in their own relationships BUT is Robert Downey jr who steals the show HE IS THE GLUE that represents human connection in the film,believe me HE ROCKS!!!.Wonderful performances by the cool Wesley Snipes,Ming Na Wen,Nastassja Kinski(she is so smooth!!!),OK I got to say something about this actress,Kinski,she's a true woman.She doesn't has the vulgarity of Jennifer Lopez(Oops!).

I also liked the two sex scenes of our protagonist with this two woman(the difference of how they make love…),even the film has some cameos from Ione Skye(remember that actress of Say Anything?);His real life brother ,the musician Donovan Leitch,OK Mike Figgis is the Director but he also is responsible of the wonderful music in this film.

I hate to say it,but Roger Ebert was right in saying that Kinski has the best line of the movie: "What do you do, Karen?" asks Mimi(Max's wife). And she replies: "I'm a rocket scientist."