- Night Shift (film)
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Night Shift 
Night Shift movie posterDirected by Ron Howard Produced by Brian Grazer Written by Lowell Ganz
Babaloo MandelStarring Henry Winkler
Michael Keaton
Shelley Long
Richard Belzer
Clint HowardMusic by Burt Bacharach (score & songs)
Carole Bayer Sager (songs)
David Foster (song)Cinematography James Crabe Editing by Robert James Kern
Mike Hill
Daniel P. HanleyStudio The Ladd Company Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date(s) July 30, 1982 Running time 105 min. Country United States Language English Box office $23,600,000 (US) Night Shift is a 1982 comedy film, one of Ron Howard's earliest directorial efforts. It stars Howard's Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler along with Michael Keaton, in his first starring role, and Shelley Long, who later in the year would star as Diane Chambers in the popular sitcom Cheers. Also appearing are Richard Belzer, and (as usual for Ron Howard films) Clint Howard. A young Kevin Costner has a brief scene as "Frat Boy #1", Shannen Doherty appears as a Bluebell scout, and Vincent Schiavelli plays a man who delivers a sandwich to Winkler's character.
Contents
Plot
Chuck (Winkler), formerly a successful stockbroker, has found a refuge from the ulcer-inducing Wall Street rat race in his job as an attendant at the New York City morgue. His displeasure at being "promoted" to night shift supervisor to make room for his boss's nephew is exacerbated by the irrational exuberance of Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski (Keaton), his new coworker. However, both men are inspired by the plight of Chuck's prostitute neighbor, Belinda (Long), to apply Chuck's M.B.A. education and Bill's entrepreneurial spirit to open a prostitution service, that treats the women fairly, with headquarters at the morgue.
Soundtrack
The movie's opening theme song is "Night Shift" by Quarterflash. The closing theme song, "That's What Friends Are For," was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. The song is performed by Rod Stewart in the film. It was later covered by Dionne Warwick & Friends (Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Elton John); Warwick's version became a Billboard Grammy Award-winning #1 hit and raised millions for AIDS causes.
The official soundtrack was released in 1982 on the Ladd Company label and was distributed by Warner Bros. It included ten selected tracks from the film, six of which were written just for the film. The tracks included are as follows:
- "Night Shift" by Quarterflash
- "Street Talk" by Burt Bacharach
- "Girls Know How" by Al Jarreau
- "The Love Too Good to Last" by The Pointer Sisters
- "That's What Friends Are For" by Rod Stewart
- "Someday, Someway" by Marshall Crenshaw
- "Penthouse and Pavement" by Heaven 17
- "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk
- "Everlasting Love" by Rufus and Chaka Khan
- "Night Shift Love Theme (instrumental)" by Burt Bacharach
The soundtrack was a vinyl only release. The versions of "Talk Talk" and "Penthouse and Pavement" that are on the soundtrack are different to any other releases of the songs as they were specially mixed for the soundtrack.
Other songs heard in the film include "You Really Got Me" by Van Halen and a live version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones, taken from the 1977 live album Love You Live; a section of "Cutting Branches for a Temporary Shelter" by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra is also heard.
Reception
Box office
Night Shift earned $23.6 million in the United States.[1]
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of 19 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.4 out of 10.[2] Many reviewers praised the performances of the two male leads, particularly Michael Keaton.
TV Guide's Movie Guide wrote that "Winkler turns in the best performance of his career, and Keaton is wonderful."[3] The Chicago Reader's Jonathan Rosenbaum compared Night Shift to the subsequent comedy film Risky Business (which also dealt with the theme of prostitution), noting that Night Shift isn't "... as snappily directed or as caustically conceived, ... but it's arguably just as sexy and almost as funny."[4] The New York Times' Janet Maslin, however, deemed Night Shift "... a halfway funny movie, one that's got loads of good gags in its first half and nothing but trouble in its second."[5]
References
- ^ Night Shift, Internet Movie Database. Accessed March 14, 2010.
- ^ "Night Shift (1982)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "Night Shift: Review," TV Guide's Movie Guide. Accessed March 13, 2010.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Night Shift," Chicago Reader. Accessed March 14, 2010.
- ^ Maslin, Janet. "Night Shift Review," New York Times (July 30, 1982).
External links
- Night Shift at the Internet Movie Database
- Night Shift at AllRovi
- Night Shift at Rotten Tomatoes
- Night Shift at Box Office Mojo
Films directed by Ron Howard 1970s Grand Theft Auto (1977)1980s 1990s 2000s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) • A Beautiful Mind (2001) • The Missing (2003) • Cinderella Man (2005) • The Da Vinci Code (2006) • Frost/Nixon (2008) • Angels & Demons (2009)2010s The Dilemma (2011) • The Dark Tower (2013)Categories:- 1982 films
- 1980s comedy films
- Films directed by Ron Howard
- Films set in New York City
- American sex comedy films
- Warner Bros. films
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