Review: One Night Stand (1997) Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars Debatable 2.5 stars Some people may like it 3.0 stars I liked it 3.5 stars I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Mike Figgis
Written by: Mike Figgis
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Robert Downey Jr., Ming-Na Wen, and Kyle MacLachlan
Ingredients: Romance, jazzy music
Synopsis: Max (Wesley Snipes) is a director of commercials who has a wife, two kids, a dog, and house in sunny California. Unfortunately, Max is unhappily married. In the beginning of the movie Max is alone in New York to visit his best friend Charlie (Robert Downey Jr.) who has just been diagnosed with AIDS. By chance Max meets a lady scientist named Karen (Nastassja Kinski ) who is attending a convention in New York. Soon romantic sparks fly, and the two have a one night stand. Max flies back home to California and has guilty feelings for a long time. Two years later, Max and his wife Mimi (Ming-Na Wen) are in New York to visit Charlie who now lays dying in the hospital. Max is shocked to see Karen at the hospital; apparently Charlie's brother's wife is none other than Karen. Not only that, but the passion between Max and Karen is alive and well. What will the two of them do about it?
Opinion: Mike Figgis apparently had a big hand in this movie since, he was director, writer, and the guy who composed the jazzy musical score. Did he do a good job? Hmm. Interesting cinematography. Often the camera moves between scenes by fading in and out of black or ending in a color freeze-frame that becomes a black and white snapshot. The acting is pretty solid, especially by Robert Downey Jr. as the AIDS victim. The chemistry between Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski is moderate, rather than hot. Similar to ‘When Harry Met Sally' but perhaps not as cohesive, ‘One Night Stand' is one of those ‘life' movies where boy meets girl while jazzy vocals and music play in the background. People who liked ‘When Harry Met Sally' would probably learn towards this movie.
Reviewed by David Sunga November 14, 1997
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