AFTER DARK, MY SWEET
A film review by Sandy Grossmann
Copyright 1991 by Sandra J. Grossmann
Cast: Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, Bruce Dern Director: James Foley Screenplay: Robert Redlin & James Foley, based on Jim Thompson's novel
Synopsis: An unusual and original variation on the ancient theme of the
wanderer. While most films in this genre concentrate on the
changes the drifter causes in the stationery lives around him,
this film also shows the changes in the drifter. A suspenseful
screenplay and great acting make this film worth seeing twice.
Currently available on video.
Just about any book on screenwriting stresses that the first few pages of a screenplay must establish the main character's personality and introduce the major conflict. "Few" means 3, 5, or 7, which translates to 3, 5, or 7 minutes. It's a good thing that Redlin & Foley ignored such advice.
AFTER DARK, MY SWEET pulls you in bit by bit, always holding back and making you try to fit the pieces together. Interesting from the very beginning, it sure as hell doesn't follow a formula.
Ken Collins (Jason Patric) is an ex-boxer. When we first meet him, we discover that he has escaped from an institution, but it isn't clear why he was institutionalized. We meet up with him in the Californian desert, where his voice-over begins the narration that continues throughout the film. He has a diffident voice: stumbling, non-energetic, shy, and reserved. Non-Hollywood. His gait is curious, too; he walks with his shoulders hunched forward, his legs advancing him toward an unknown opponent in the peculiar, somehow-awkward stance of the boxer.
He stops in a bar and tries to strike up a conversation with Fay Anderson (Rachel Ward), who immediately sizes him up as a stupid oaf. When the bartender attempts to throw him out, Collins' reflexes take over. He stumbles out into the desert along the highway, where Fay impulsively picks him up.
She looks at his face and renames him Collie. There they are on a road in Indio, California. The landscape provides nothing--absolutely nothing. No reason to stay but too hot and still for people to summon the energy to leave. Everything that happens just seems to happen all by itself, and the flat, endless landscape is flattened still further by a relentless sun.
A friend describes this film as Technicolor noir. Maybe he read that somewhere, or maybe he made it up himself, but it's a good label. Certainly the tone is film noir, and the overbearing light in this film serves the same purpose as the dark, shadowed images of yesteryear. While regular film noir depends upon particularly malevolent characters and a pervasive pessimism, AFTER DARK, MY SWEET differs in that the characters aren't stereotypical or especially stylized. Although the characters are at once recognizable, they are in some sense archetypes instead of stereotypes. Also in contrast to film noir is the holdout for hope that the characters maintain.
I don't want to spoil this for you by telling you too much about the story or giving away too much about the characters. Let me put it this way, though: these characters are complex and their relationships constantly shift. The acting is superb. I'd never even heard of Jason Patric before, but I know of him now and greatly respect his ability. Rachel Ward is grand. Bruce Dern is perfect as Uncle Bob, a schemer who amuses Fay.
Hats off to the writers of this play for creating such complete characters and events that just start happening. In contrast to many screenplays, the characters' reactions to events and opportunities actually drive the story. Put another way, the plot doesn't drive the characters--the characters drive the plot. Rare is the screenplay that allows this to happen.
Why this didn't get more attention is beyond me. It's well-worth seeing, and Patric's performance makes this a film worth buying. Rent it, though, and tell me what *you* think. And tell me what the heck the title has to do with the film, OK? I never did get it...
Sandra J. Grossmann sandyg@sail.labs.tek.com
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