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After Hours (1985)
Starring Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, and Teri Garr. Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus. Edited by Thelma Schoonmaker. Produced by Robert F. Colesberry, Griffin Dunne, and Amy Robinson. Written by Joseph Minion. Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Paul Hackett (played by Griffin Dunne) lives a simple life as a word processor. One night while reading a novel in a local coffee shop he is approached by Marcy Franklin (played by Rosanna Arquette), a beautiful woman who after a short conversation gives Paul her phone number. Paul heads home and immediately gives Marcy a call.
He is invited over to her SoHo apartment and he hops in a cab. But on the ride over all of his money blows out the window. This is only the first of Paul’s long series of problematic events. Marcy is apparently emotionally disturbed and he finally decides to leave her.
He tries to hop on the subway, but the toll has just increased a few hours ago and he doesn’t have enough money. And it just goes on and on from there until Marcy turns up dead and there is an angry vigilante mob after him.
While filming Boxcar Bertha, Barbara Hershey gave Martin Scorsese a copy of The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis and he immediately fell in love with it. In 1981 he hired screenwriter Paul Schrader to adapt the novel and arranged with Paramount Pictures to produce the film. But a wave of controversy hit before the film even left pre-production and Paramount and its affiliates got spooked.
The film was dropped in late 1983 leaving Scorsese abandoned and frustrated. Determined to not let this defeat quell his love of filmmaking, Scorsese immediately set out to find a new project. He recalled a screenplay that he had previously passed on called Lies.
The script, written by newcomer Joseph Minion as a thesis for his graduation, was now in the hands of Tim Burton, but upon hearing that Scorsese was interested in the project Burton respectfully stepped aside. The script was tweaked a little bit, the title was changed, and Scorsese was back in business.
After Hours was a complete departure from Scorsese’s previous works and was his first true attempt at comedy. The film was funded independently, giving him the opportunity to do with it as he pleased. He scheduled it to shoot in only forty days; something he had not done since Taxi Driver.
It was shot entirely at night and with a frantic energy that is reflected in the insanity of the film. In the end After Hours was a success for Scorsese both critically and financially. It did well in the Cannes Film Festival and because of its low costs it turned a decent profit. Scorsese would move on to other projects, but temptation of The Last Temptation of Christ was yet to leave him.
Budget: $4,500,000
Total US Gross: $10,609,321
Genre: Black Comedy
Runtime: 96 Minutes
US Release Date: 9/13/85
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (intended ratio)
Awards:
Cannes Film Festival:
Won for best director. Nominated for the Golden Palm.
Golden Globes:
Nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical.
Tagline: When It’s After Midnight In New York City, You Don’t Have To Look For Love, Laughter, And Trouble. They’ll All Find You
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Quote: “What do you want from me? I'm just a word processor!”
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