After Dark, My Sweet

Infobox Film | name =After Dark, My Sweet


caption =Theatrical release poster
director = James Foley
producer = Ric Kidney
Robert Redlin
writer = Jim Thompson (novel)
Robert Redlin
James Foley
starring =Jason Patric
Rocky Giordani
Rachel Ward
Bruce Dern
cinematography =
music = Maurice Jarre
editing =
distributor = Avenue Pictures Productions
released = August 24, 1990 (Toronto Film Festival)
runtime = 114 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0098994

"After Dark, My Sweet" (1990) is a neo-noir film directed by James Foley starring Jason Patric, Bruce Dern, and Rachel Ward. It is based on the 1955 Jim Thompson novel of the same name.

Plot

Ex-boxer Kevin "Kid" Collins is a drifter and an escapee from a mental hospital. He meets Fay Anderson, a widow, who convinces him to help fix up the neglected estate her ex-husband left. Her Uncle Bud talks them both into helping kidnap a rich boy for ransom money, and the ex-fighter must make decisions about his loyalties and what is right.

Reception

Roger Ebert in his "Great films" review of the movie wrote "After Dark, My Sweet" is the movie that eluded audiences; it grossed less than $3 mllion, has been almost forgotten, and remains one of the purest and most uncompromising of modern films noir. It captures above all the lonely, exhausted lives of its characters." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050313/REVIEWS08/503130301 Roger Ebert's review] ] Writer David M. Meyers praised the script "The screenplay, which hews closely to Jim Thompson's heartless novel, is unusually tight, spare, and well constructed." [cite book | author=David M. Meyer | title=A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on Video | publisher =Avon Books | year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-380-79067-X]

References

External links

* [http://noiroftheweek.blogspot.com/2007/08/after-dark-my-sweet-1990.html Film Noir of the Week review with trailer]