Hidden Gems - After Hours (Movie) | Mechanics' Institute

You are here

Hidden Gems - After Hours (Movie)

When you hear the name "Martin Scorsese" does the phrase "screwball comedy" spring to mind? Maybe it should. In 1985, years after establishing himself as one of the great film directors of our time with movies such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Scorsese directed an absurdist comedy worthy of the old Ealing comedies of the 1950s. Unlike the screwball comedies of old, however, After Hours takes the silliness of a typical screwball comedy down a much darker alley: think "Film Noir meets Dada."  

 

An ordinary guy stumbles down a rabbit hole leading him from surviving (sometimes just barely) one bizarre, inexplicable situation after another. All he wanted was a fun night out. Instead he finds himself living through a nightmarish chain of events he can neither control nor escape. Every time it looks like he has made good his escape, he quickly finds out that, no, he hasn't. And, to make matters worse, Horst thinks he lacks discipline (but then Horst thinks that about a lot of people). Next, toss in Cheech and Chong because, well, why not?

Posted on Apr. 7, 2023 by Steven Dunlap