![]() Okay, the basic premise of the film is a bit problematic, as the kids say. ![]() The combination of Bill’s entrepreneurial spirit, Belinda’s crew of willing hookers and Chuck’s financial acumen (even offering advice to the women, from whom he and Bill collect only 10% of earnings, on how to invest their profits) makes their venture a success, leading to the inevitable complications involving the police, the mob and Chuck’s relationship with Belinda before-what else? -a happy ending for all involved. Chuck is appalled at first but, having already begun to develop feelings for Belinda, agrees to do it. When he mentions this to Bill at work, later on, Bill has an especially outrageous idea-they could serve as the pimps (or “love brokers,” per Bill’s rebranding) for Belinda and her colleagues and make the morgue their base of operations. One night, Chuck lends assistance to Belinda (a pre- Cheers Shelly Long), a prostitute who lives in his building working on her own following the murder of her pimp at the hands of some gangsters. From the moment that he appears, it is clear that a star was born. ![]() Bill is played by Michael Keaton, who up to this point had starred in a couple of short-lived sitcoms and done some bit parts in a handful of movies. did-the arrival of that new co-worker, a fast-talking self-described “idea man” named Bill Blazejowski who bops on in to the beat of his Walkman and lays out an astonishing array of patter, occasionally interrupting himself to capture one of his brilliant money-making schemes on the tape recorder he always carries with him. Alas, Chuck is so introverted that he is unable to stand up for himself to anyone, be it his neurotic fiancee, the deli that screws up his order, or the boss who informs him that he is being “promoted” to working the night shift and will also be training a new co-worker.Īll this leads up to Night Shift’s key scene, one that hit viewers the same way Eddie Murphy taking over the redneck bar in 48 Hrs. Henry Winkler, Howard’s longtime Happy Days co-star, stars as Chuck Lumley, an exceedingly mild-mannered financial wizard who left the high-pressured world of Wall Street and now works as an attendant at the New York City morgue. Yes, the film’s premise has not exactly aged well in the 40 years since it premiered-it was frankly a bit dubious even back then-but it more than makes up for it with the sheer wildness of that premise, ragged energy that fits the tenor of the material and, perhaps most importantly, one of the most sensational big-screen debut performances of the era. It resulted in what may be my personal favorite of his films to date, the 1982 comedy Night Shift. Howard did do this once early on in his career when he was still trying to establish himself as a director and aiming to break away from his goody-goody sitcom persona. Sure, there is something to be said for solid, sensible craftsmanship, but Howard as a filmmaker could stand to let his artistic freak flag fly once in a while. If there is a flaw to Howard’s method, it is that there is never a personal touch or sensibility to most of his films-even the most ardent auteurist would struggle to find any sort of artistic throughline connecting his work. Ron Howard has been directing feature films for almost 45 years now (his latest, Thirteen Lives, has just opened) and I think most would agree that he long ago proved himself behind the camera-he works well with actors, tells his stories cleanly and efficiently and, barring outliers like How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Hillbilly Elegy, even his films that don’t quite work never go completely off the rails into complete disasterdom.
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