About Last Night

It turns out that I have really not been good at keeping this blog up to date, and I could come up with a number of excuses.  Some of them are good, but I know for a fact that some are not.  More of the anxiety stuff was in there and was becoming a hindrance, as well as an awesome visit from the in-laws that took all of the steam out of this happy-go-lucky introvert.  I have also been trying to finish up a short story for a contest, so that has been occupying a lot of time and mental energy.  Anywho, enough excuses, it is time for the review.

Valentine’s Day weekend is a glistening opportunity for empty romantic gestures, and, as well, empty romantic movies.  There is opportunity for other genres to get into the mix, but nothing says ‘I love you’ more than sappy music, poor dialogue, the hunk, the damsel, and some kind of vomit inducing plot that does not resemble any earthly reality of what a healthy relationship is.  But, it has a hunk, causes a tear or two, so guys follow their girls to the theatre to celebrate a day of superficial emotion.  This year saw three romantic movies come out during this time, with two of them being remakes from the 80s.  A fourth movie was an 80s remake as well, but I don’t think Robocop ever made it to the ‘dinner and a movie’ experience for the gushing couples.

Remakes can baffle people.  For some reason, they are constantly done.  Most of the time there is absolutely no purpose to the existence of the remake as it seems little more than a cash grab and an admittance of not being able to come up with original ideas.  They can lack the fun characters, charm, and energy that the originals had, and leave a taste and texture in your mouth as if you had just pumped a fistful of flour into your maw.  This is really what I was expecting to come face to face with when I saw About Last Night this past weekend.

Much to my surprise, the movie was absolutely full of energy.  If there is something that would be hard to deny about this film is that it had a very vivid pulse to it, a life that was able to make it feel like a movie with attitude and purpose.  While it had a fair bit of raunchy humour, it was the casting that made this movie work.  Kevin Hart (who plays Bernie) has become a true star in the last year, and some may feel a bit slighted to find out that he was only in a supporting role in this film.  Fear not, the man has many a great scenes.  Spurring him onto greatness was his female counterpart (Regina Hall, who plays Joan) in a very physical and dysfunctional relationship.  The comedic chemistry between this pairing was incredible and they were able to push each other in scenes, even though they sometimes may have travelled a bit down the road of the ridiculous.

The main thrust of the story centred on the down to earth friends of Bernie and Joan, whom the couple set up and begin seeing each other.  Both have been hurt in the past and are more interested in a relationship that has more to it than the antics of Bernie and Joan, but both have baggage that also hinders that from being a natural mission to accomplish.  Debbie (Joy Bryant) and Danny (Michael Ealy) find themselves assaulted by relationship advice from their friends, who are the people who really appear to be the least capable of giving solid counsel on such matters.  As things progress, they find the monotony of the daily committed relationship loses the luster that their fling once had, the kind of topic that those other romantic movies always avoid.

It is the decision to look at love from the framework of commitment and long term partnership that was able to separate this film from others, but it did so in a way that regular movie goers who just want their romantic swill will not be put off.  Usually it is films for older audiences that look at this theme, such as Enough Said, and Before Midnight, films that never break out because perhaps they lack that superficiality that the masses crave.  Essentially, it was a mature-themed story that was well wrapped and sold as the typical film, becoming something that can appeal to myself as well as those who just wants the guy to kiss the girl.  About Last Night was able to present a message of more thought in a realm that usually ignores intelligence.

Now, it was not a perfect film and it did have some timing flaws.  As the couples encounter issues, it usually felt as though it was forced and the struggles did not have the most natural way of surfacing.  I never really felt as though I could fully relate to the problems that arose, not because they are not real and common problems, but with the nature in which they arrived at them.  Because of the important role that the tensions played on the overall narrative, it became hard to be emotionally invested throughout the entire movie.  As well, there were stretches of time where the story felt a little slow and drawn out.

But, who really wants that in a Kevin Hart film?  Sure, I was not completely there the whole time.  Sure, it was not flawless.  This is all alright, because the film was incredibly funny and provided a much better story than I had anticipated.  This film had the romance, it had the comedy, and it had great casting, which is what makes a wonderful Valentine’s Day movie.  You could find funnier films and you could find more emotional films, but this one is able to balance the two in a way that should keep most people happy.

Rating – 3 out of 4 stars