While Kevin Hart is generally funny, “About Last Night” is wholly lacking, though probably through no fault of Hart’s, or even co-star Michael Ealy. And based on the play “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” by playwright David Mamet, one would expect the comedic romp to be success. However, “About Last Night” is sadly debunked by a flat story-line, stereotyped characters, and a lack of emotional maturity and content. The film does have its take-a-ways and heart; sadly they are few and far between.
The film doesn’t so much follow the exploits of two bachelors in Los Angeles, but tries, in a floundering fashion, to explore relationships in the big city amidst expectations, past disappointments, and societal standards. Here we meet Debbie (Joy Bryant), characterized by her friend as ‘boring,’ who bonds with attractive Danny (Ealy). The two reluctantly begin a fledgling ‘relationship’ – a word “About Last Night’s” characters avoid using at any cost. Of course, amidst this lies Bernie (Hart), a determined-to-be-single bachelor who warns his friend about the perils of relationships, those three little words, and giving up single-hood.
What is most disappointing about “About Last Night” is that none of the characters in the film are unlikeable. However, we don’t get to explore this fact, as the four main characters are completely cloaked in cliché. The man who can’t say ‘I love you’ first… the woman pushing to define the relationship….the obligatory ex-boyfriend who threatens the new guy’s ego. It’s as if Director Steve Pink and company lifted its characters straight from the pages of Maxim and Cosmopolitan with no thought as to what actual people in these character’s shoes might act like. While it’s possible Danny might bring an ex-girlfriend feigning intoxication back to his apartment instead of calling her a cab, it’s certainly not likely. It’s these kind of things “About Last Night” seemingly can’t get enough of, insulting viewer’s intelligence in the process.
Performance-wise, the cast is certainly likeable and entertaining, and the worst part is that we see a depth throughout the film that hints at a better movie lurking beneath the surface that never gets discovered. Hart is hysterical as usual; I could honestly listen to him read numbers from a phone book all day and laugh. Alas, Hart is buried in the film’s deck, and doesn’t get anything that could qualify as depth until the movie’s half over. Opposite him Ealy eats up most of the film’s first half, and does a decent job garnering sympathy and being wholly likeable.
Their respective partners Debbie (Joy Bryant) and Joan (Regina Hall) are even more thinly painted; especially Joan, who is reduced to warning Debbie about power in relationships and yelling at Bernie in crowded bars for most of the film’s run-time. While it’s clear the characters’ anger will be resolved with relationship crises along the way, it feels as though Pink doesn’t want us to know that. We’re supposed to laugh at their pain, not understand it.
It’s worse that some scenes try to vindicate this, such as a naked and honest scene in an elevator between Danny and Debbie that borders on excellent. Bernie and Joan have their scenes too; these are sadly thrown away with more cringe-worthy scenes than sweet ones, such as a New Year’s Eve party that was so obviously written as a needed plot mechanism it comes off little more than unwatchable. Once again, we have a movie that doesn’t know what to be – a comedy or a drama – and drags audiences along its unwitting progression. Some additional characters, such as an excellent Christopher McDonald, give the film life support, but by the time they do, it’s too late.
“About Last Night” isn’t an awful film. It tries to be endearing, is funny, and, though overlong at 100 minutes, does lay down some food for thought on relationships, and, thankfully, isn’t raunchy. The film has heart, and its biggest shortcoming is that it seems not to realize it. I felt the film deserved a D, I really did, but in the end I can’t do it. The film tries. It just comes up regretfully short. If you want to see a brilliant film based off of a David Mamet play, rent “Glengarry Glen Ross;” that film has the depth and exposition necessary to give its characters the credit they deserve. But “About Last Night” will at least entertain, even if it doesn’t transcend.
