Thursday, August 14, 2008

'After Hours' Review




****/***** 'After hours' is classic Scorsese. Young word-processing specialist Paul Hackett, bored of his job, meets a beautiful young lady and gets her number. Later he calls her and treks across town from his posh Eastside NYC apartment to SoHo, in a wry comedic, often nightmarish journey that seemingly won't end, with encounters from a bevy of odd and disenfranchised characters. 'After Hours' is a Kafkaesque nightmare, slightly noirish, and is embodied with Scorsese's signature flares with the camera. These include a P.O.V. shot for a set of falling keys from the keys' perspective and many others, better seen than explained. The direction tight, you may become exhausted with the plight of Paul in just this night. It is said that Scorsese took on this project after the studio shut down his production of "The Last Temptation of Christ" just a few days before cameras were to roll. Well, Paul Hackett, possibly, was akin to Martin Scorsese at that point: ineffectual in changing his circumstances. Through Hackett, Scorsese could seek to expel his disdain.

1 comment:

  1. You make this movie sound very interesting. I think I'll have to add it to the short list of movies that I need to see. Thank you.

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