Why the destabilizing lunacy of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours still resonates
Star Griffin Dunne and producer Amy Robinson reflect on the lasting impact of Scorsese's 1985 comedy ahead of its Criterion release
Film Features Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is an august lion of cinema now, best known for his hard-hitting dramas (and his occasional vivisections of Marvel movies), but The Wolf of Wall Street was no crazy outlier—Scorsese has always had a wicked sense of humor. Rich supporting evidence can be found in After Hours, his darkly comic romp from 1985.
“I think the reason the movie remains timeless for so many people is, despite the anachronisms of cell phones and the internet and all that kind of stuff, what is omnipresent and constantly relatable is a growing madness in American behavior, in extremities,” the film’s star, Griffin Dunne, tells The A.V. Club. “You see crazy people on Tik-Tok, and Karens and Trump and things are at a heightened level, and I think that kind of madness just translates for moviegoers, generation after generation.”
One of Scorsese’s most loose-limbed offerings, After Hours is a pleasurably disorienting work of unique kinetic energy. A tricked-out, director-approved Criterion special edition Blu-ray of the film, with a new 4K digital restoration approved by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, deleted scenes, and new features, released this week, brings a renewed appreciation of the title.
The beguiling film leans into the cascading, Kafkaesque catastrophes that befall Dunne’s Paul Hackett, a Manhattan office worker who ventures out to SoHo late one night with a hookup on his mind. Mistaken for a serial burglar and waylaid in his attempts to simply secure subway fare and return home, Paul becomes a magnet for all sorts of destabilizing energies.
Producer Amy Robinson says, “What I’ve heard much more, which I find interesting, is that people say, well, your movie is the reason I moved to New York. So all of the horrible and frightening things that happen to Paul made them want to come here.”
A roster of strange and volatile characters
Shot by Scorsese on an aggressively downsized budget in the summer of 1984, After Hours came on the heels of the director’s The King Of Comedy, a commercial failure in 1982, and the last-minute shelving of The Last Temptation Of Christ, on which Scorsese had been in preproduction for more than a year. (The latter would eventually be made, and released in 1988.)
In this regard, both the staying power and narrative of After Hours perhaps makes perfect sense—the film’s roster of strange and volatile characters (its excellent supporting cast includes Rosanna Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, John Heard, Catherine O’Hara, Will Patton, and Cheech Marin) serving as emotionally recognizable figures for people who had traumatic or unstable home lives growing up. Thus, more than three decades on, it still beckons, like a flame to a moth.
In the moment, deeper readings weren’t necessarily part of everyday discussions. Dunne recalls that he and his cohorts threw themselves into a production that was fully immersive owing to its night shoots. “My cousin Tony was a grip on the film and he came to my apartment with black muslin and blacked out all my windows, so I could sleep during the day,” says Dunne. “So you just get into a rhythm where the sun comes up and it’s time to go to bed. I went to this totally blacked-out apartment and rose like a vampire to start work.”
“Marty, at least then, was a tremendous night owl,” adds Robinson. “He stayed up all night and just watched movies. So though it was tiring for some people, I think Marty got stronger as the shoot went on, because he was in his element, to be shooting at night.”
‘A state of increasing anxiety and sexual frustration’
The production itself inspired Dunne in ways that expanded the set of tools in his actor’s grab-bag. “It was totally born of this film, and encouraged by Marty’s energy and his appreciation for the actors to try out new things and just keep things alive,” Dunne says. “I had to stay in a state of increasing panic and anxiety and sexual frustration, from the first frame all the way until the end.”
The screen-captured apex of his experimentation can be glimpsed late in the movie. Without reading his director in on his specific intent, immediately after Scorsese called action on a sequence, Dunne raced around the corner from the stage where they were shooting to the historic Ear Inn Bar, burst in, and loudly announced free drinks for everyone, to a resounding cheer. Dunne then scrambled back to set, walking into a shot with Verna Bloom which opens the scene. “It was just something that sort of helped me, it was fun and games,” he recalls with a laugh. “I have no idea if anybody paid the bill or not. I didn’t stick around to find out.”
Roger Ebert was an early big fan, but many critics didn’t seem to grasp After Hours’ indulgence of screwball paranoia as a snapshot of the times, and a statement on social dislocation. “Having always wanted to be in a picture that was reviewed by Pauline Kael, who I admired so much, I would’ve preferred she didn’t say I was a second-rate Dudley Moore,” says Dunne. “That, I still remember.”
Still, After Hours earned Dunne a Golden Globe nomination, and Scorsese Best Director honors at the Cannes Film Festival when it played the Croisette the following year. It also won Best Feature and Best Director prizes at the Independent Spirit Awards.
‘Mystified’ by the reviews
“Quite honestly, we were mystified by these tepid reviews from intelligent reviewers,” says Dunne. “But this was my second time around with this befuddlement. When An American Werewolf In London came out it also received tepid reviews, and its criticism was how dare (writer-director John) Landis combine humor and horror. Now that is de rigueur for every horror movie. And as time passed with After Hours, it’s become its own genre in itself. But at the time these certain critics who we give so much credit for their intelligence, they didn’t see it.”
Marvin Mattleson’s evocative poster—of Dunne’s head representing the crown on a wristwatch, being gripped and twisted by a pair of manicured, red-polished nails—should have probably clued in more viewers as to the surreal mayhem that awaits in the movie. (“I have to tell you, I hated it at the time. It really disturbed me,” says Dunne of the artwork. “But I get it, it is an arresting image.”)
But perhaps After Hours was always destined to be a diamond in the rough, discovered in unlikely fashion and time. Dunne tells an anecdote that certainly makes that seem the case. “We got crew jackets that had my picture on it saying ‘Find Him!,’ from the wanted poster (in the movie), and every now and then one will show up. I’ll see someone wearing it on Instagram,” he shares. “But the most surreal time was back when they had bicycle messengers, I had something delivered. And they’re always strange people who are the bicycle messengers, quite eccentric fellows. So this guy had the After Hours jacket, but it had been covered in filth and it was ripped up. I said, ‘Where did you get that?’ And he said, ‘I found it in the trash.’”
53 Comments
I guess I’ll have to give this another shot. I saw it in the theater, but I must have been in a lousy mood, because I remember it being one of the worst moviegoing experiences of my life. It was freshman year of college, so there’s a good chance I’d either been dumped or had term paper I hadn’t even started, neither of which were Marty’s fault.
Same scenario here, I was a freshman in college too. And it was a big Friday night opening weekend when I went to see it in Westwood, CA at the Bruin. The audience did NOT respond well. The few chuckles at the beginning faded into exhausted and stunned silence. The BIGGEST laugh that I recall was when some (apparently) drunk dude yelled out ‘This movie is KA-RAZY!’ and it broke the tension for everyone. Afterwards people filed out looking haggard and spent. I think it was a black comedy gut punch that NONE of us was expecting. Even to this day, I only show it to people with a warning that it’s stressful. I don’t get a lot of takers.
It’s funny with all the talk around seeing movies in theaters/at home, but this might be a better home video movie. It just adds to the surrealist vibe. I could imagine it’d be a much different and less personal experience on the big screen with a bunch of audience members who have zero idea what they’re watching (though I’m sure it’d be a fun experience with like-minded fans).
After Hours is my favorite Scorsese movie other than Goodfellas. Did he ever try another movie with anything like the vibe of this? Maybe Bringing out the Dead? That is pretty different thoughRosanna Arquette could have had more to do but made an impact. Teri Garr and Catherine O’Hara were both terrifying in quite unusual ways for them
This truly is one of his best movies. It’s at least in the top 5. I’m always surprised by how many people I mention this to that haven’t seen it or even heard of it.
A good friend of mine’s father was stressed out watching ‘Meet the Fockers’ because he felt so frustrated for the hell that Stiller’s character was enduring. I was like ‘well I know a movie that would send you into cardiac arrest, then!’
I was so young and hungry for experimental film. I guess it was terrifying? One of my strongest memories is of one of the characters submitting to being competely covered in plaster (as in a casting). I’m sure we were meant to feel the constriction and paranoia.
Saw this for the first time at the start of the pandemic and loved it.
Trips me out that Cheech and Chong have a Scorsese credit on their resume. ( and weird this article just mentions Cheech Marin , since this is an article about a zany Scorsese flick, mentioning Cheech and Chong adds more to that , even if they had bit roles).
their outfits are also incredible
one of my favorite movies of all time. the real life horror of a bad night out is unmatched.
I quote random lines from this movie all the time. Such a great, weird, unpredictable production. It didn’t make me want to move to NY, but it did embellish my love for being out late, late at night.
“I’ll probably get blamed for that.”
“If yuh close duh daw, I nevuh haftuh see duh day uh-gin…”
Thanks, Mo.
Hope we passed the audition…!
No mention of Ted Lasso’s riff on it with ‘Beard After Hours’? I was pleased that the series finale was able to reference it at the end.
Really enjoyed Beard After Hours but I must have missed the reference in the final ep. What was it?
The big, scary guy that was chasing him, and then saved him, was at his wedding with his newborn baby.
Gorgeous. Thanks for the heads’ up.
Its such a low key hilarious films. The bit where a woman shoots her husband and Griffin Dunn sees it and dryly says I’ll get blamed for that is just terrific.
I rented this in college and that moment is the only time 8n ny life where I had to just pause the movie because we couldn’t stop laughing and catch our breath.
I think my favorite scene is when he’s in the empty subway station, he’s a few cents short for the token, and he begs the metro employee to let him through anyway. The guy says he could lose his job if anybody found out, and Dunne motions to the completely empty station, and asks how anyone would know. The old guy goes into an outlandish excuse about he might go to a party, have too much to drink, and let it slip. I still chuckle thinking about that.
Oh how the only reasonable person he meets the entire movie is that one polite gay guy. Or just dancing at the end to Peggy Lees Is That All There Is muttering I wanna live… so much good stuff.
Best Scorsese movie, and one of the best movies of all time.
Definitely a benchmark for the surrealist “everything goes wrong” subgenre, seemingly influencing the vibe of everything from the Coens’ A Serious Man to the Safdies’ Uncut Gems and Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid.
I definitely thought of this film when I saw ‘Beau is Afraid’!
Mediocre.
I saw After Hours for the first time in decades on Criterion Channel last year. Oddly, while I remembered almost all the supporting players – Linda Fiorentino, John Heard, Verna Bloom, Bronson Pinchot, Cheech, Chong, et. al I completely forgot Catherine O’Hara was the leader of the vigilantes. I think it’s one of her best roles.I confess I have pretty specific memories of this movie. I was a reviewer on my college paper and was able to attend a preview screening of After Hours and then take part in revolving round table interviews with Scorsese, Amy Robinson, Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette the next day. I got lost on the way and almost missed the event. When I did make it I was a nervous, high-strung wreck. Who realized as soon as I took my seat that I really needed to use the restroom. Fortunately, Robinson was the first one our table interviewed and she was very cool and had no problem with me ducking out for a moment. Scorsese was also very friendly and easygoing and didn’t mind me steering the conversation toward what movies and directors he liked (the others at the table were understandably annoyed). Arquette was also great, but Dunne did not like me much at all and pointedly took questions from anyone but me. In retrospect I don’t blame him. I don’t remember writing anything insightful or interesting about the movie and interview, either. But I still consider the experience a highlight.
After Hours remains not just my favorite Scorsese movie ever, but my favorite film of all time. Number two on my personal list of favorites is Hannah & Her Sisters which came out the same year and is also very much a New York City movie — though it is a very different take on the City.
I think it’s a weak-ass movie with a few funny moments. Beyond that, he could just walk home. But then there’s no movie.
The new deleted scenes they include likely won’t be as magically revelatory as the major ones in the recent remaster package of “The King of Comedy” were, but a guy can hope!!
Wow, I literally just re-watched this 2 nights ago. Yup, DEFINITELY holds up.
Is it on streaming?
I watched it on DVD via Netflix disc delivery!
I thought they had discontinued DVDs?Update: I found it to rent on Amazon.
Still two months left! Get ‘em while they’re hot!
Ok! 😉
I have more memories of the poster than I do the movie, which I only saw for the first time a year or so ago. As a kid I vividly remember it in the video store at some point when it was coming out on home video.
I wish Scorsese did more comedies. King of Comedy is great too.After Hours definitely captures the feel of a night out in NYC back in the 80’s and early 90’s.
I caught that one on VHS in college right around the same time as I saw After Hours for the first time. It was 1987 or so and I was just discovering Scorsese and trying to catch up with anything I hadn’t seen.I was absolutely stunned that King of Comedy got such poor reviews and flopped back in the day. It was one of those moments of disparity where I still couldn’t understand how so many were so clearly wrong about something — or was I the one? I’m so glad the reputation of King of Comedy has grown and it’s largely considered a great film. Hopefully people will catch up with Age of Innocence in the same way.Why do I care? I dunno. I always liked it, too, when my niche indie bands got big (if they were still doing good work, I guess).
In the age of social media, the entire thing frankly is more relevant. I can see some idiot kidnapping a celebrity and becoming a celebrity just because some people hate celebrity number 1.
Hot take: there are two kind of Scorsese movies, the good ones and the underrated ones.
Yeah, even the ones that are misses for me, I always find at least something in them that make watching the movie worth it to me. Bringing Out the Dead isn’t my favorite Scorsese movie, but that one shot where the ambulance is diving away from the camera and down a boulevard in Manhattan and he tilts the whole image to its side so that canyon of buildings fits into the entire shot…god damn that was such a great idea.
Saw this back in the day, fell in love with it. Had it on VHS, waited for the first time it came out on DVD and bought it on the day (that one had a few extras, guess I’ve gotta pay up for more now). In my Top Five for favorite Scorsese movies, favorite 80s movies, favorite NYC movies, favorite comedies and favorite movies in general.
Have you listened to the Joe Frank radio monologue that it was “adapted” from? It’s 11 minutes long and it’s fascinating – it’s about halfway down the page here:https://andrewhearst.com/blog/2008/05/the-scandalous-origins-of-martin-scorseses-after-hours
I’d forgotten trailers that show most of the story weren’t just a modern thing ..
I watched the trailer looking for a better shot of the graffiti of the guy with his dick getting bitten off by a shark in the thumbnail, but I didn’t see it.
No mention of the thing being plagiarized? Come on AV A.I.!https://andrewhearst.com/blog/2008/05/the-scandalous-origins-of-martin-scorseses-after-hours
One of the wildest rides ever. It was my introduction to some serious American surrealism. Patricia Arquette’s performance with terrific. Thanks for the reminder. I need to see this again.
“He just couldn’t stop… he just couldn’t stop…. He said he didn’t even know he was doing it; he just couldn’t stop…“So I just broke the whole thing off!”(Nods definitively.)
I loved this movie but had a hard time getting my friends to sit through it. You got to pay attention to get the humor. This was one of my first VHS tapes I ever bought. And believe it or not, VHS movies were very expensive to buy in the 80’s.
I gotta watch this flick every couple years. Just to refresh myself on it’s erratic vibe, or introduce it to somebody else. It’s what makes me excited to see Griffin Dunne get work.