Watched "One Night Stand", followed by "Goodfellas" and then watched the Director's Commentary for "One Night Stand."
Englightening. Intriguing. Sloppy.
"One Night Stand" took on a lot: Racism, Stereotypes, Adultery, AIDS, Family-life. One IMDb author badmouthing this film: "How is this realistic?" In the grand scope of life, we do much more unrealistic things. Problem is, moviegoers need something more refined and a great deal more palatable. We've all eaten Mac & Cheese over the stove and had fancy steak dinners in the same calendar year, yet it's not good on the big screen.
The ensemble delivers the story well. The major problem is in Figgis. He takes on way too much at once. He has to edit things down and all these realistic situations (because life is crazy) seem so unrealistic by the moviegoer's eye. He should have reigned it in quite a bit.
There was such an attempt to joust with everything, to be REAL. I really cannot even get a handle on writing a short review. If you love Indie pics, you'll love this one. If you love director commentaries, you'll love this one, too.
If you want a straight-forward flick, you'll hate "One Night Stand." The editing was rushed and the story was encumbered by all the extra-curriculars: Black Husband/Asian Wife, two-way extra-marital affairs, bi-coastal stereotyping, the Gay/AIDS "agenda." Whoo boy. I just don't have the time to tackle it all adequately, so I'll comment on the actors, which would have made a better script and better editing into a 7 or 8 star film (Goodfellas: 8, The Departed and Rocky: 10. In my book, you have to fire on every cylinder to be a 10. Most films are 4, 5, or 6).
Wesley Snipes: Great Dramatic Acting about a man torn between where he is and where he wants to be in life.
Ming-Na: excellent "American neglected wife" who happens to be Asian. Very anti-stereotypical role. Her stage presence is underscored by how poorly her role was written. She delivers it strongly.
Thomas Hayden Church: He really performed so well, you wished for more of him on Camera, unfortunately, he was written only in support.
Nastassia Kinski: Part Muse, Part Heroine in distress, Part Mistress foil to Wen's Mimi.
Robert Downey Jr: Drug addict. If you've seen any movie where his character is some sort of addict, you've seen him before. Tab A, meet Slot B.
Kyle MacLaughlin: Weakest player. Offered little substance to the movie - which he should have had a major part. Unfortunately, the scrip was way too heavy.
Way too complicated, like life often is. A good screenplay strikes the balance, complicating only what is necessary. This script fails that, and in the end, the director has to rush through places where he should stop to breathe, and breathes in places he should have rushed.
Englightening. Intriguing. Sloppy.
"One Night Stand" took on a lot: Racism, Stereotypes, Adultery, AIDS, Family-life. One IMDb author badmouthing this film: "How is this realistic?" In the grand scope of life, we do much more unrealistic things. Problem is, moviegoers need something more refined and a great deal more palatable. We've all eaten Mac & Cheese over the stove and had fancy steak dinners in the same calendar year, yet it's not good on the big screen.
The ensemble delivers the story well. The major problem is in Figgis. He takes on way too much at once. He has to edit things down and all these realistic situations (because life is crazy) seem so unrealistic by the moviegoer's eye. He should have reigned it in quite a bit.
There was such an attempt to joust with everything, to be REAL. I really cannot even get a handle on writing a short review. If you love Indie pics, you'll love this one. If you love director commentaries, you'll love this one, too.
If you want a straight-forward flick, you'll hate "One Night Stand." The editing was rushed and the story was encumbered by all the extra-curriculars: Black Husband/Asian Wife, two-way extra-marital affairs, bi-coastal stereotyping, the Gay/AIDS "agenda." Whoo boy. I just don't have the time to tackle it all adequately, so I'll comment on the actors, which would have made a better script and better editing into a 7 or 8 star film (Goodfellas: 8, The Departed and Rocky: 10. In my book, you have to fire on every cylinder to be a 10. Most films are 4, 5, or 6).
Wesley Snipes: Great Dramatic Acting about a man torn between where he is and where he wants to be in life.
Ming-Na: excellent "American neglected wife" who happens to be Asian. Very anti-stereotypical role. Her stage presence is underscored by how poorly her role was written. She delivers it strongly.
Thomas Hayden Church: He really performed so well, you wished for more of him on Camera, unfortunately, he was written only in support.
Nastassia Kinski: Part Muse, Part Heroine in distress, Part Mistress foil to Wen's Mimi.
Robert Downey Jr: Drug addict. If you've seen any movie where his character is some sort of addict, you've seen him before. Tab A, meet Slot B.
Kyle MacLaughlin: Weakest player. Offered little substance to the movie - which he should have had a major part. Unfortunately, the scrip was way too heavy.
Way too complicated, like life often is. A good screenplay strikes the balance, complicating only what is necessary. This script fails that, and in the end, the director has to rush through places where he should stop to breathe, and breathes in places he should have rushed.