With nearly
every blockbuster being released in theaters being a film built off of an
existing franchise, whether it is an adaptation from a comic book, sequel or
remake of some past success, it is slightly disappointing to see this practice
bleed over into the field of modestly budgeted romantic comedies as well. While
it is more understandable to see the action-packed summer movies remade, both
because of the box-office safety net needed when spending large sums of money
to make the films and due to the continued advancements in special effects
technology, there is little to be altered in romantic comedies from
twenty-years ago other than the advent of text messaging. At least the film
chosen to remake was only moderately received upon first release, criticized as
being a poor adaptation itself. As long as studios don’t try and remake Sleepless in Seattle, Say Anything or When Harry Met Sally, I will allow films like About Last Night to pass without much complaining.
The 1986
romantic comedy About Last Night…
starring Rob Lowe, Demi Moore and James Belushi was adapted from the David
Mamet play, “Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Unfortunately,
much of the film’s narrative relies heavily on the contrived relationship
between stars Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant as Danny and Debbie. The relationship
has hints of realism thrown into the cliché pitfalls of commitment, but it
doesn’t even feel like the actors buy into the forced issues that inevitably
drive the pair apart. They are the boring and predictable leads, which opens
the comedy up for Hart and Regina Hall as the film’s secondary relationship and
supporting cast members. Their relationship doesn’t have the restrictions of
realism, which allows for exaggerated and unlikely situations developed for the
comedic support alone.
There is nothing
particularly offensive about this remake. The improvisational dialogue gets a
bit over-the-top, and it often feels like Hart is desperately trying to hijack
the lead role, but it is moderately entertaining and resembles the copy of a
copy of a well-written relationship. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are three
additional special features, added to the making-of featurette included on the
high definition and standard DVD alike. Unfortunately, each additional
featurettes is completely irreverent and entirely extraneous. There is a
featurette about saying “I love you” first in a relationship, one with tips
from the cast on making a relationship work, and the final one is actually just
advice on romance from complete strangers off the street.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment