About Last Night (2014)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I love this movie so much

Too much of everything

The acting in this movie is really good.

Kevin Hart is a hoot. Michael Ealy is a fine actor (but is he becoming anorexic?). But this film is seriously uneven.First, I would suggest that the director take a Valium! The first third of the film was hyperactive to the point where I almost shut if off several times. Then, in the middle of the movie, when the story actually got into relationships, it got more interesting. And in the last third of the movie got nearly sentimental...and showed a little heart.A big thing for me in a film is whether or not I can like the characters. At least in this film, I couldn't get into Regina Hall's character at all. Kevin Hart's character -- in small doses. I fared better with the other romantic team. Joy Bryant's character was very likable, despite pushing the relationship too hard. And Michael Ealy's character was likable, despite being not ready for a relationship.The plot is pretty standard. Boy meets girl (although in this case it was 2 boys meet two girls). Boys and girls fall into relationships (although very different types of relationships). Boys and girls fall out of their relationships and are sad. Boys and girls patch things up and love blooms. They all live happily ever after. Been there, done that, but the journey getting there is (after the first third of the film) rather enjoyable.It was pretty good...one time.

This movie had very good dry humor but despite the fact that It made me chuckle a few times; I felt that there was a lack of comedy throughout the entire film. There were times when I questioned the plot and who the main characters actually were. The overall theme seemed like a re-run of every bad drama you've ever seen with the smallest issues made to seem like a big plot line. It felt like the flick tried to be its own version of 500 days of summer, only difference was the fact that it was all in chronological order. I sat and watched it waiting for the mood to shift or pick up just a tad bit but everything was very bland and predictable. I had a tough time believing that this movie had even managed to snag as much of an audience as it has. I usually enjoy these sorts of films but there just wasn't enough of a plot or humor for me to really think anything of this movie, except that it was a waste of my time. I honestly wish I could pick out scenes that I genuinely enjoyed and save them for a different film because it's a shame to see them wasted in this. When I was checking out the trailer it seemed entertaining and fresh but it seems like most of the funny moments, (and the entire beginning,) of the movie were packed in there, not to mention the fact that at times it felt like the movie was moving just as fast as the trailer, It really seemed a bit rushed. It feels harsh but I truly didn't find a strand of interest in this film despite loving the characters and certain parts. I wouldn't recommend the movie, it was a letdown and I was left disappointed.

So what do we have here? Nothing but another unnecessary remake of an '80s film. This time it's "About Last Night," the romantic drama starring Demi Moore and Rob Lowe, which was itself based on the highly acclaimed play by David Mamet, provocatively entitled "Sexual Perversity in Chicago." In this version, it's Joy Brand and Michael Ealy who play the young urban couple who meet, fall in love, move in together, then begin to have doubts about the efficacy and durability of their relationship. Brand and Ealy are appealing and attractive performers, and both have done fine work on TV, Brand in "Parenthood" and Ealy in "Almost Human." But here they have been let down by screenwriter Leslye Headland, who proves herself incapable of getting past all the timeworn tropes and clichés that have become so much a part of the romantic comedy genre. The movie becomes just another men-are-from-Mars/women-are-from-Venus- type scenario, filled with girl-talk and guy-talk and all the predictable sturm und drang soul-baring and commitment issues (mainly on the part of the man, of course) that such narratives are prone to. Too often the things pulling the couple apart feel scripted and manufactured rather than organic and real. Under the slick but lackluster direction of Steve Pink, everyone just seems to be going through the motions, without any real passion or conviction.The movie also comes replete with the requisite smart-aleck, comic- relief couple (well-played by Kevin Hart and Regina Hall) to serve as a foil for the one on center-stage. Yet, even the humor tends to aim low when it should be aiming high.I like the way the story hits the re-set button in the final scene, but by then it's a case of too little too late and we've already moved onto the next movie.

In Kevin Hart's 2nd feature of the year, he reunited with Michael Ealy and Regina Hall to bring us a remake to a film that I honestly never saw. But, with Kevin Hart being somewhat consistent since he came out, I figured this would be a good film. However, despite my love for his work in Ride Along, I am beginning to think Kevin Hart fatigue is oncoming.Characters & StoryBernie (Kevin Hart) & Danny (Michael Ealy) are co-workers and best friends who end up dating Joan (Regina Hall) and her roommate/ friend Debbie (Joy Bryant) respectively. Bernie is Kevin Hart as he is in most of his movies, but vulgar, and Joan is similar to Hall's character Brenda Meeks, but a little more off balance. Together, they make for a dysfunctional couple who bring the majority of the laughs to the film.On the other end, you have Danny and Debbie, who both present almost an entirely different movie. Their story is much more traditional romance and has the usual rise, screw up/ break up, and then an odd method of getting back together. As for the characters themselves, complete opposites of Bernie and Joan. Danny is pretty much a smooth type of brother, and Debbie is pretty much fits what a college sweetheart would be.Altogether, the film feels like it presents two different type of love stories and tries to string them both together the best it can.PraiseIn all honesty, most of the praise for this film, to me, goes to Ealy and Bryant. Mind you, Hart and Hall are funny, and got me laughing about 22 or so times, about half of what Ride Along got, but their bickering is pretty much where most of that 22 count came from. Hart gets as nasty as possible when it comes to his comedy, and Hall throws it right back in his face. And, as the story summary said, they're highly dysfunctional, yet they seem almost more realistic than their counterparts in Ealy and Bryant at times.Going back to Ealy and Bryant, though their romance is very storybook, their chemistry and the way they play with one another in the film, really made me want to take notes, outside of what went on in the movie. Also, I think, even if you cut Hart and Hall, their relationship alone was compelling enough to stand on its own two legs. I mean, it has all the appeal of a, for the lack of a better term, urban romance novel, a la something out the Kimani Romance collection (I personally recommend Kim Shaw).CriticismBut, while it had its laughs, and a decent romance, I must admit I felt like neither Hall and Regina's characters, nor Ealy and Bryant's, got that developed. Not to say they were shallow, but between Danny's character speaking of a dream he had, without specifics, talking about a dad who screwed someone over, but we are never told how, and then him and Debbie getting back together, after she pretty much shut him out, it made it seem like their story was secondary to making sure Hart had enough screen time to make his audience happy. And the sad thing is, despite Hart being funny in the film, I do feel he needs a new shtick. Like Will Ferrell, and many other comedians out there, he is starting to seem like he is only capable of playing one type of persona, which has minor adjustments to the characters personality. And, to me, his "Big Little Man" routine is starting to get old. Plus, considering he has one more film this year, and TV shows in the works, outside of Real Husbands of Hollywood, I think he definitely needs something to show he is more than a one note actor trying to get all he can why the fire is hot.Overall: TV ViewingAll in all, I felt a bit disappointed when I walked out the theater. Not because it wasn't as funny as I hoped, or as romantic as I thought it could have been, but just because it just didn't seem like it was made to do anything but give you something to do for an hour and a half. Which there isn't anything wrong with, but considering this is a remake, much less the fact we will be drowning in Kevin Hart material, it just makes me wonder why there wasn't an effort to really make it so it had some real emotional depth, and not so easily capable of writing off. Which is which I say it is worth waiting until it comes out on TV. It isn't that hilarious, or makes you swoon to the point it is worth spending money on immediately. Especially because it is quite forgettable.