About Last Night
Directed by: Steve Pink
Written by: Leslye Headlund, based on the screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue, based upon "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" by David Mamet
Starring: Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall, Joy Bryant, Christopher McDonald, Adam Rodriguez, Joe Lo Truglio, Paula Patton, Terrell Owens, David Greenman, Bryan Callen
Comedy/Romance - 100 min
Written by: Leslye Headlund, based on the screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue, based upon "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" by David Mamet
Starring: Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall, Joy Bryant, Christopher McDonald, Adam Rodriguez, Joe Lo Truglio, Paula Patton, Terrell Owens, David Greenman, Bryan Callen
Comedy/Romance - 100 min
By your 30s, you should have emotionally moved beyond the idea of a battle of the sexes. I suppose some may think there may be a power play involved depending on which partner utters the ‘I love you’ phrase first, but 19 years olds can be immature sometimes. The foursome in About Last Night is supposed to be in their mid-30s or so and they are still playing with high school hallway rules when it comes to boys and girls. No wonder they find it so challenging to begin and maintain a healthy long term relationship.
The livelier and funnier pair involved is Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Joan (Regina Hall). They hate each other so much all they can do is engage in frequent bouts of over the top sex, tell their friends in raunchy, explicit detail about their challenges and achievements in those acts, and then mock and reign derision upon others’ attempts to calmly date and pair off. The more rational and level-headed pair in the film are Danny (Michael Ealy) and Debbie (Joy Bryant). These two are bored by Bernie and Joan’s over the top PDA, the idea of a life of one night stands, and that any acquiescence to your significant other means you lose some influence in a zero sum contest of superiority.
Compared to Bernie and Joan’s hilarious bedroom experiences with chicken heads and fighting for their preferred position, Danny and Debbie opt for candlelight and mood music. However, nobody in the history of relations has ever thrown all of the dishes with a freshly prepared dinner onto the floor to make space on the kitchen island for some love making; only in the movies. To the horror of Bernie and Joan, Danny and Debbie logically progress in their relationship from exclusivity to moving in together.
All men in the history of moving in with a woman are blindsided by the fact and absurdity of throw pillows. I, and every man ever, consider throw pillows ridiculous, but they are just one of the sacrifices one makes when they decide to cohabitate. Compromise is a foreign word to Bernie. He is ready to throw Joan out of the boat when she makes the egregious mistake of asking to meet his parents when they’re in town. What makes Joan so fun to watch is that she does not agree to be tossed aside; she will grab onto Bernie’s neck and take him down with her.
Based on a 1974 one-act play by David Mamet, next made into a 1986 brat pack film with a young Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, this iteration of About Last Night is exponentially raunchier than its predecessor. It is also a lot funnier. Bernie and Joan’s ridiculous fighting produces a few laugh out loud moments. The film follows Danny and Debbie’s ups and downs most of the time and their incessant reasoning and over analyzing every detail becomes tedious at times, but About Last Night never completely derails.
It never truly takes off either. Bernie and Joan are far too juvenile to be believable downtown Los Angeles professionals pushing 40. No man that old gets jealous and yells at his best friend for moving in with a nice girl. The vulgar comedy is refreshing as a PG-13 version of the dialogue would have torpedoed the movie. Kevin Hart not being the central character and in every scene also does the film a favor. Used with limited care, Hart’s eccentricity can launch a movie to higher levels. Used incessantly as in the recent Ride Along, Hart will numb your senses with his in your face style. About Last Night is an amusing rom-com but ultimately a bit disappointing as Hollywood insists folks like these still exist.
The livelier and funnier pair involved is Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Joan (Regina Hall). They hate each other so much all they can do is engage in frequent bouts of over the top sex, tell their friends in raunchy, explicit detail about their challenges and achievements in those acts, and then mock and reign derision upon others’ attempts to calmly date and pair off. The more rational and level-headed pair in the film are Danny (Michael Ealy) and Debbie (Joy Bryant). These two are bored by Bernie and Joan’s over the top PDA, the idea of a life of one night stands, and that any acquiescence to your significant other means you lose some influence in a zero sum contest of superiority.
Compared to Bernie and Joan’s hilarious bedroom experiences with chicken heads and fighting for their preferred position, Danny and Debbie opt for candlelight and mood music. However, nobody in the history of relations has ever thrown all of the dishes with a freshly prepared dinner onto the floor to make space on the kitchen island for some love making; only in the movies. To the horror of Bernie and Joan, Danny and Debbie logically progress in their relationship from exclusivity to moving in together.
All men in the history of moving in with a woman are blindsided by the fact and absurdity of throw pillows. I, and every man ever, consider throw pillows ridiculous, but they are just one of the sacrifices one makes when they decide to cohabitate. Compromise is a foreign word to Bernie. He is ready to throw Joan out of the boat when she makes the egregious mistake of asking to meet his parents when they’re in town. What makes Joan so fun to watch is that she does not agree to be tossed aside; she will grab onto Bernie’s neck and take him down with her.
Based on a 1974 one-act play by David Mamet, next made into a 1986 brat pack film with a young Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, this iteration of About Last Night is exponentially raunchier than its predecessor. It is also a lot funnier. Bernie and Joan’s ridiculous fighting produces a few laugh out loud moments. The film follows Danny and Debbie’s ups and downs most of the time and their incessant reasoning and over analyzing every detail becomes tedious at times, but About Last Night never completely derails.
It never truly takes off either. Bernie and Joan are far too juvenile to be believable downtown Los Angeles professionals pushing 40. No man that old gets jealous and yells at his best friend for moving in with a nice girl. The vulgar comedy is refreshing as a PG-13 version of the dialogue would have torpedoed the movie. Kevin Hart not being the central character and in every scene also does the film a favor. Used with limited care, Hart’s eccentricity can launch a movie to higher levels. Used incessantly as in the recent Ride Along, Hart will numb your senses with his in your face style. About Last Night is an amusing rom-com but ultimately a bit disappointing as Hollywood insists folks like these still exist.
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