One night with a gigantic quiff (One Night At McCool's (DVD))

Member Name: george_lazenby

Product:	One Night At McCool's (DVD)
Date:	28/04/01 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny and likeable

Disadvantages: A bit light and fluffy

Don't be fooled by the reviewers whose short-sighted perspectives compare 'One Night at McCool's' with Tarantino. This is a relatively straightforward and witty film, told from multiple perspectives - it has almost nothing to do with the ponderous, pointless storytelling techniques employed by Mr Quentin. The cinematic template for the multiple storytelling approach is actually Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' and for all its gaudy silliness, 'One Night..' actually has more in common with the 1950 Japanese film.

The point of the movie is that there are three narrators - dumb but nice barman Randy (Matt Dillon), repressed widower cop Dehling (John Goodman) and sleazy lawyer Carl (Paul Reiser), all three of whom are obsessed with Jewel (Liuv Tyler), a voluptuous temptress whose schemes eventually ensnare all three of them.

As the three tell their stories - Randy to a hitman (a hilariously quiffed Michael Douglas), Dehling to his priest, and Carl to his therapist (country singer Reba McIntyre) - we see three different versions of the same woman. Randy probably sees her most clearly, as a mixture of ruthless and innocent, with a very nice figure. Dehling sentimentalises her, seeing her as a sweet and virginal sitcom figure in pastel dresses. The massively perverted Carl sees her as a psychotic S&M dominatrix, tempting him into whipping sessions and his wife into threesomes.

This isn't profound or particularly original, and there is a nagging sense of familiarity throughout the gaudy action. Nevertheless, it is genuinely funny, with a series of hilariously outlandish incidents (murder by DVD player, Carl's agonisingly crass fantasies, the mad climax, and Douglas' outstanding wig), and some superb double-entendre gags.

Harald Zwart, who has my favourite name of the year, directs with a love of colour and sparkle which at times makes the film look like a John Waters epic, except with the fat man not i
n drag. However, he doesn't lose sight of what a glossy soufflé his film is. It's fast, slick and edited at breakneck speed so you never get chance to tire of it.

The three male leads are all superb - Dillon proves himself to be an able comic lead once again, Goodman oozes sweaty pathos as the lovelorn lonely cop, and Reiser, who has it within himself to be the most loathsome actor alive (remember his appallingly slippery turn in 'Aliens'), is just staggering, turning every leering word into an ocean of sleaze. The big surprises come with Douglas, who is very funny and vanity-free in his sight-gag cameo, and bigger than him, Liv Tyler. Liv Tyler is a lovely looking woman almost always cast for her looks, and while they're obviously a factor here, she makes the scheming minx into a wholly sympathetic character, and gets more than her fair share of laughs. At the very least, what could have been just an empty cheesecake appearance is very funny and dignified.

This is a small movie which you should probably approach without any great expectations - it's forgettable but very entertaining, and you will certainly have a good night out.

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