Into the Night

A film that takes place over a single night in Los Angeles. Ed cannot sleep. He has been without sleep for months, is vague at work, and has just found out his wife is unfaithful. He gets into the car at night. He does not know where he is going and drives to the airport. In the car park a woman runs and throws herself onto his car. Four men are after her and they are armed. Ed puts his foot down. Diana does not say who she is. She says she has a job, asks for an address, and lies several more times through the night. From there the film is a chase. A beach house, a hotel, a jeweller, a film set, a club and a port. At the centre of it are emeralds. She has carried a shipment out of Iran and several separate groups are after it. What the narrative is interested in is not crime but waking: Ed does nothing inside the events, mostly watches, and the film keeps him passive on purpose. The tone is unsteady. The narrative wanders between comedy and violence; one scene is a joke, the next is a death. One known feature is the casting. A great many directors appear in small parts, and the man who directed the film plays one of the pursuers. The music is by B. B. King and the song comes round several times through the film. Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Farnsworth and Dan Aykroyd are in the cast. John Landis directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes the night films of the 1980s and black comedy with a mixed tone. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a coherent plot; the narrative is loose and some sections exist only for a guest appearance.