Into the Night

By my estimation, director John Landis began his long downward spiral with 1985's INTO THE NIGHT. It would be the first film where his creative deficiencies began to really become apparent. Prior, he had directed several movies that have become genre staples: NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, TRADING PLACES, as well as the cult comedies SCHLOCK and KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE. He had enviable comedic timing. His style was brash, overbearing, raunchy, kitchen-sink. With TRADING PLACES, there were indications that he was capable of a lighter touch at times. Something happened between the final wrap of that film and the pre-production of INTO THE NIGHT. It would continue with a string of films that varied wildly. OK, COMING TO AMERICA was fun. INNOCENT BLOOD was kinda cool. The IFC production SLASHER was a pointed documentary. But then there were just awful things like OSCAR, BEVERLY HILLS COP 3, and BLUES BROTHERS 2000 (excepting the explosive musical jam at the finale).

Landis' decline is a textbook case of an artist who's "lost it." His detractors would argue that he never had "it." He was not a darling of film critics, but I found his "Classic 4" to be solid romps, vibrant bits of anarchic glee. He did the "slob" comedy better than almost anyone. And they were unique. THE BLUES BROTHERS, a steamroller of a musical comedy, isn't like anything else. ANIMAL HOUSE begat hundreds of imitations, mostly putrid. AMERICAN WEREWOLF was a sharp horror film leavened with generous amounts of humor. And so on. Where does that leave INTO THE NIGHT?

Pretty straightforward plotline: L.A. insomniac Ed (Jeff Goldblum) with dull life decides to park at the airport one night. Out of nowehere, a beautiful woman, Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer), falls on his hood, running for her life from a quartet of killers. They turn out to be Iranian gestapo, SAVAK (one of them played by Landis himself), recruited to retrieve some diamonds believed to have been smuggled by Diana while overseas. Diana begs Ed to drive her the hell outta there. With nothing better to do, he complies. He's even intrigued a little.

What is supposed to be a quick ride to safety turns into a 24 hour nightmare for both of them, especially Ed. He's not used to all the excitement. What with high level drug dealers, hired assassins, foreign spies, Federal agents, show people, and all their shenanigans. Aerospace engineers like him don't tred onto the wild side very often. It's all very disconcerting. Even as he finds himself in the middle of a Mexican standoff at the L.A. airport near the end of this tale, he still kvetches about his sad lot. He even stops and asks a gunman who's pointing an automatic at Diana's head why his wife is sleeping with someone else. Why is his life so mundane? Why can't he sleep?

I've probably made the movie sound somewhat interesting. It is, but unfortunately Ron Koslow's disorganized screenplay works against it. Too many story threads, and the plot about the diamonds is really convoluted and silly. Landis' static, uninspired direction is also a debit. For a film that is essentially a long chase, the pace really falters. We also meet too many characters, many of them played by film directors. In fact, there are probably more director walk-ons in this movie than any other, ever. Don Siegel. Jonathan Demme. Paul Mazursky. David Cronenberg. Lawrence Kasdan. Many more. There are also cameos by screenwriters (Waldo Salt), musicians (Carl Perkins), musician/actors (David Bowie, quite good here), editors, special effects guys, gaffers, L.A. car dealers, and probably the guy who bought sandwiches for the crew. Why? Landis does this in lots of his films, I guess as a bonus for film geeks who get off on this sort of thing. People like me. Sigh. Everyone else will probably, perhaps rightly think of this as a pointless waste of 2 hours.

But. INTO THE NIGHT still has this vibe. this rhythm. I mainly credit Goldblum, who does his patented nerdy persona so effortlessly here. He's so entertaining, here and in most of his work. He is not as caustic in this movie as elsewhere, but just as oddly off-center. Yes, he's a John Q. Citizen but with a jagged mannerism. A restlessness that refuses to be confined by the plot, or Landis' mostly clumsy direction (that airport shootout's pretty nifty, though). Pfeiffer gets a good showcase in one of her first leading roles, though she doesn't really get to do more than looked scared and/or bored most of the time. The soundtrack has some good old Motown tunes and a few new tracks by B.B. King.

I also seem to be attracted to stories that take characters on all-night joyrides. INTO THE NIGHT may seem to be a West coast AFTER HOURS, but it's very different than that. Scorsese's film is far more subversive, though even more frustrating and less entertaining than Landis'. Your best bet for this type of film? Demme's SOMETHING WILD, a real treat.

Lately, INTO THE NIGHT has become more revered among several respected critics. Several have given it a fresh viewing. I watched this again a few years ago and it remained a mildly entertaining diversion. Not much more. Who is this film for, then? I'd say Goldblum completists and voyeuristic film buffs. I might add that the location filming in L.A. is also quite evocative. Having driven down Wilshire, Cahuenga, Sunset, and all the other infamous byways, my later views have made this more fun and involving. There's mystery in and around about every corner, in every shadow there. You might take that as my saying you should actually just go to L.A. and have your own adventure. Minus the blood, hopefully.