Night Owls

Not a Hollywood explosion-type of film, if you want that, go else-where. This film was a surprise, the log-line caught us enough to stick it on one evening - last night, with no expectations.

Right off-the-bat the situation isn't quite right, which piqued curiosity and draws you in. As it progresses quite quickly the characters become more and more engaging, more and more real, very well acted by the two relative unknowns, absolutely understanding the depth and identity of the characters they portray.

From a writing and directing standpoint, these guys absolutely nailed the complexity of people, and managed to do a 'one-location film' completely believably without drawing attention to that fact, brilliant and smart filmmaking.

This is a very entertaining and refreshingly different relationship film, and thank god for it, absolute praise from me, they know what they're doing.

For anyone who saw the movie I mentioned, The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, this movie will strike a clear resemblance. Sure, it has it's slight alterations to make it a little different and original, but the story itself is quite common. For who it may concern, I truly recommend seeing The Apartment first and then this one. You'll see the common ground on which the story revolves and the similarities that make this movie and the classic one bound. I'll end my review by saying that it's a good movie, in it's own right, very well acted and put together. Make this and the 1960's movie a duplex with your loved one around these holidays. You won't regret it.

Kevin (Adam Pally) is looking to have a hot drunken one-night stand. Madeline (Rosa Salazar) takes him to a house but he discovers that it's the home of his boss, famed football coach Will Campbell. He calls Peter who informs him that she's Will's mistress. Peter tells him to keep her there until he arrives in the morning. She has taken pills but Peter stops him from calling the ambulance.

This is mostly a two-person play. It's a low budget indie taking place almost entirely in a house. It rely solely on the two actors and their connection with each other. There is a good back and forth, but it never feels unwritten. It probably would serve well to have some music or a traveling montage or an excursion. It starts to feel a bit claustrophobic hanging out in that house for the whole movie. Overall, it's nice work.

The mixture of slapstick humour and seriousness isn't always blended that well. There is some good awkward realism though. The main guy is a beta-male dude who is generally well meaning despite being a bit fearful and judgemental. The girl is - I think - what they call a 'hot mess'. She mixes cynical and righteous anger with goofy wildness.

Night Owls is a good and refreshing flick and if you already have to watch something in this genre, it might as well be the best that the genre has to offer at this time. Very strong slapstick vibe and raunchy jokes will make you forget that at its core Night Owls is a classic romance movie. And this is not a bad thing, it's just there have been so many of them and almost all of them were horrible and generic, made just to milk the audiences for more money. This one takes things in a different direction.

Kevin is one those guys who just work and work, with occasional outburst intended to prove that he's still alive. This time that outburst involves Madeline, a troubled girl who likes Kevin and the two of them spend the night together. Next thing you know Kevin finds Madeline lying unconscious in the toilet...

Another thing that will entertain you is the fact that the movie is happening in almost real-time. This adds more tension to the atmosphere and a deadline that you see coming as the movie progresses, making time go faster and faster. Dynamic relationship between Kevin and Madeline is the core of this movie. They transition very quickly from strangers, friends, lovers, enemies and whole bunch of other stuff, keeping the movie interesting and further examining their relationship. How do you test a hypothesis: you take it to the extreme. This time the setup was a bit extreme, but still well thought out so our characters have lot to deal with, making Night Owls a movie you should check out.