{"id":5715,"date":"2021-08-24T08:41:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T12:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=5715"},"modified":"2023-03-26T20:19:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T00:19:59","slug":"the-sour-overpowers-the-sweet-in-about-last-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-sour-overpowers-the-sweet-in-about-last-night\/","title":{"rendered":"The sour overpowers the sweet in About Last Night…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 3 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

Even though I think I have to casually give Edward Zwick’s About Last Night…<\/em> only three stars here, there’s a lot to commend it. There’s no high concept or clever hook to slap on the poster: no one falls in love with their maid or the magnate destroying their small business, no one gets amnesia and falls in love with the wrong sibling from the wrong side of the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Get me a gin & tonic or I’ll kill you.”<\/p>Joan (Elizabeth Perkins), About Last Night…<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a sincere romantic dramedy built on top of a David Mamet<\/a> play, About Last Night…<\/em> can’t help but fight its schizophrenic nature. Mamet’s trademark macho aggression keeps piercing through, and the sourness often overpowers the sweet. Several Letterboxd reviews<\/a> note that the film hasn’t aged well, and while I don’t disagree, I think it’s pretty clear that Bernie (Jim Belushi) is telegraphed as a pig, and if not a virgin, then at least a pathetically insecure liar. That the ostensibly more evolved Danny (Rob Lowe) entertains Bernie’s boasting is a sign of his na\u00efvet\u00e9, and Bernie’s bad influence is part of what causes his relationship with Debbie (Demi Moore) to fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just when you think this is a unicorn amongst donkeys — a rare non-H.E.A. — the coda in which Danny and Debbie reconcile, while still keeping everything else in their lives that led to their breakup, feels inauthentic. About Last Night…<\/em> does not compare favorably to Marty<\/a><\/em> (1955), where the protagonist rejects his toxic friends in favor of a healthy relationship with a woman he loves and respects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though I think I have to casually give Edward Zwick’s About Last Night… only three stars here, there’s a lot to commend it. There’s no high concept or clever hook to slap on the poster: no one falls in love with their maid or the magnate destroying their small business, no one gets amnesia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[1469,33,52,1946,1945,1943],"class_list":["post-5715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-1469","tag-david-mamet","tag-demi-moore","tag-edward-zwick","tag-jim-belushi","tag-rob-lowe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/about-last-night.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-1ub","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":956,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/glengarry-glen-ross\/","url_meta":{"origin":5715,"position":0},"title":"Death of a BLEEPing salesman: James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"For better or for worse, Glengarry Glen Ross is very pointedly set in a world of men. 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It's no accident, oversight, or deliberate act of Hollywood misogyny to banish women from this 24-hour\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/glengarry-glen-ross-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/glengarry-glen-ross-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/glengarry-glen-ross-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/glengarry-glen-ross-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/glengarry-glen-ross-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1469,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/redbelt\/","url_meta":{"origin":5715,"position":1},"title":"Competition is Weakening in David Mamet’s Redbelt","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Redbelt is writer\/director David Mamet's ode to jiu-jitsu, of which he himself is reportedly a purple belt. 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But I still can't find much love for what is probably his most popular movie, The Last of the Mohicans, which seems to lack his typically intense focus and clarity.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Last of the Mohicans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/last-of-the-mohicans-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/last-of-the-mohicans-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/last-of-the-mohicans-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/last-of-the-mohicans-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/last-of-the-mohicans-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8968,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/night-of-the-living-mushrooms-hbos-the-last-of-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":5715,"position":3},"title":"Night of the Living Mushrooms: HBO’s The Last of Us","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Last of Us briefly enjoyed the prestige TV glow in 2023, but to non-gamers, it's just another zombie show.","rel":"","context":"In "default"","block_context":{"text":"default","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/default\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/last-of-us.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/last-of-us.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/last-of-us.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/last-of-us.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/last-of-us.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand\/","url_meta":{"origin":5715,"position":4},"title":"Brett Ratner’s X-Men III: The Last Stand is lost in a densely self-referential world","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"May 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"God help me, but I agree with Harry Knowles' review. Sometimes you need a fanboy to point out what's wrong with a movie crafted for fanboys. He picked up on the absurdly sensitive Wolverine, the important Phoenix backstory cursorily related in hammy exposition, and the sudden and arbitrary shifts from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"X-Men III: The Last Stand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/x-men-iii-the-last-stand-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":513,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/u2-zoo-tv-live-from-syndey\/","url_meta":{"origin":5715,"position":5},"title":"Everything You Know is Wrong: U2: Zoo TV Live From Syndey","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"If I could build a time machine to take me to see any band in history, it would be a trip to the early 90s to catch U2 at any point along their legendary Zoo TV tour. 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