Night Shift

Summary

“Lovebrokers.”

Warner Archive has made plenty of fans from the online forums very excited with their recent release of Ron Howard’s early career highlight Night Shift. Night Shift is a comedy from 1982 starring Henry Winkler, Shelley Long, and Michael Keaton in his debut film role. The script was penned by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel who got their start in television writing but transitioned into an extremely successful film writing career. They went on to write City Slickers, Splash, A League of Their Own, Multiplicity, Spies Like Us, and Gung Ho amongst other projects. Night Shift is easily one of their best projects thanks to solid direction by Ron Howard (who had only directed Grand Theft Auto prior,) and the wonderful cast. I recently watched the film and was charmed by the surprisingly lighthearted approach the film took towards its subject matter.

As the film begins, in New York City, a pimp named Franklin realizes he is being followed. He flees, but is caught by his two assailants – Pig (Richard Belzer) and Cleon (Baja Djola.) Franklin has been encroaching on their territory so he gets killed by being thrown out a window tied to a chair. He smashes through a basketball hoop in front of two kids. Across town, mortician Chuck Lumley (Henry Winkler) meets with a whore, Belinda Keaton (Shelley Long) to identify the body. She despairs the fact that her job will be much harder without Franklin around. She asks Chuck if she knows him from somewhere. Chuck is about to get married to his girlfriend Charlotte Koogle (Gina Hecht.) She is unsatisfiable and body-image obsessed. Chuck is extremely meek and accepts things the way they are. For example, he stays with his girlfriend despite her reluctance to have sexual relations with him. He accepts his sandwich delivery even though it is always wrong. He doesn’t stand up to his boss Sal Carboni when he tells Chuck that he will take the night shift at the morgue with a new partner. Chuck will be replaced on the day shift by Sal’s nephew. Arriving to work the night shift, Chuck meets the new driver named  Bill “Blaze” Blazjowski (Michael Keaton.) Bill is an idea man who consistently speaks his ideas into a recording device as they hit him. Most of these ideas are hilarious, such as edible paper. He wants to be a business man, and begins to occasionally use the hearse as a limousine service while on the shift to make extra cash. The two men make an unlikely duo. At his apartment, Chuck realizes where he knew Belinda from – she is his next door neighbor. When Belinda and Chuck form an unlikely friendship, Chuck and Bill find themselves with an opportunity to become the “lovebrokers” for Belinda and her work associates. Hilarity ensues.

Night Shift is great. It is a wonderful comedy. The screenplay is consistently engaging and full of one-liners and the cast is fantastic. Henry Winkler has excellent comedic timing and plays the meek Chuck to perfection. He plays the straight man to the madness around him. Winkler has shown his chops in shows like Arrested Development, and this is one of his best roles. That is why it is so surprising that his career for the next decade was almost a blank slate. He should have been rewarded with more roles like this afterward. Shelley Long is very funny in the film as Belinda. She brings a lighthearted glee to the sex worker that goes a long way towards making the film feel light and airy. That said, the film is completely stolen by Michael Keaton in his first large film role. He is absolutely hilarious in the film. Keaton was a stand-up comic, so his ability to make people laugh was there from the start. His debut performance is so good, that it feels like he had been acting onscreen for years prior. Without Michael Keaton in the role of Bill, it is hard to think of what the picture would have turned out like. The cohesive nature of the comedic pariings makes the film work. The film also has standout performances in small roles by both Richard Belzer and Joe Spinell. Gina Hecht is very funny as the distracted and distraught girlfriend, Charlotte. Ron Howard draws the best out of all of his actors and they meld well together as a whole. The film also benefits from an enjoyable score byBurt Bacharach and lovely cinematography by James Crabe.

The truth of the matter is that comedies are difficult to make – at least to make WELL. Many of the comedies made today are not actually funny, but simply an excessive in trying to be funny. They try too hard. Night Shift succeeds by simply being funny and effortlessly charming its audience. Highly recommended.

Video

Warner Archive is one of the best labels at presenting Eighties era films in their best presentations. Night Shift is a great example of their prowess for restoring these pictures. They have done a tremendous job on the transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. I love the way that New York City looked in the Eighties, and the cityscape cinematography by James Crabe shines on the Blu-ray format. Warner always pushes the boundaries of how good a catalog title can look on Blu-ray without pushing into UHD territory, and this is another great example. It is essentially reference quality. It earns a perfect score visually.

Audio

Warner has provided a great sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that capably replicates the original sound design of the film. This stereo track is surprisingly lush thanks to its reliance on numerous era appropriate songs by artists ranging from Chaka Khan, Talk Talk, and The Pointer Sisters, to “Jumping Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones. To top things off, the score is from the wonderful songwriter Burt Bacharach. Overall, this track sounds great.

Supplements:

Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – .5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Night Shift is a fantastic comedy that is much more lighthearted than you might expect given that the subject matter revolves around prostitution and city morgues. That is a credit to the great script by Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. Henry Winkler is excellent as the nervous and meek Chuck. Shelley Long is an enjoyable romantic interest with strong comic timing as the prostitute Belinda. The film belongs to Michael Keaton in his debut film performance. Keaton’s character is the most interesting and has the best lines. He is a great foil to the buttoned up Chuck. This ranks as one of the better comic debuts for an actor that I can recall. He steals every scene he is in and the movie benefits a tremendous amount from his abilities. Ron Howard draws great performances by all involved. Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray features an exceptional video transfer and great audio. It only features a trailer as its sole supplement, but still earns a high recommendation for purchase based on the quality of the film itself. Night Shift is a comedy classic from 1982 that holds up incredibly well nearly thirty years later. It is genuinely funny and surprisingly sweet. Highly recommended!