After Hours (1985) ***

Until I started reading about this film, I had never heard the term “yuppie nightmare cycle,” but I immediately recognized the genre. Film critics have defined the Reagan-era subgenre as a merging of film noir with screwball comedy. Comprised of films like “Into the Night,” “Blind Date,” “Something Wild,” “Desperately Seeking Susan,” and David Lynch's “Blue Velvet,” these are movies about a white yuppie being dragged into a dark, unfamiliar world. There is usually an initial attraction to spontaneity, where the conformist yuppie is drawn to a non-conformist femme fatale. Then the yuppie gets in over his or her head, and winds up struggling to survive in what is often a late-night world of freaks and criminals.

In “After Hours,” Griffin Dunne plays Paul, a mild-mannered office drone. Ostentatiously reading Henry Miller in a cafe, in what I assume is an attempt to score chicks, Paul draws the attention of the quirky, pretty Marcy (Rosanna Arquette), who gives him her number. I've never been a huge Rosanna Arquette fan, myself, but she's pretty cute in this film, and later that night, Paul does what any normal guy would do in this situation, he calls her up. Marcy invites him over, and thus begins the worst night of Paul's life. He winds up in SoHo, penniless, meeting one crazy girl after another, ultimately pursued by an angry mob.

Paul's helpless refrain throughout the film is “I just want to go home!” It's the same refrain as in all these yuppie nightmare movies. Whether it's Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” or Kyle MacLachlan in “Blue Velvet,” the conformist yuppie, having played with fire and gotten burned, longs to get back to his safe, white, ordered world.

These movies can sometimes be frustrating to watch, as the protagonist faces one setback after another, often due to stupid decisions. “After Hours” suffers from some of that, but it's funny and entertaining nonetheless. The movie benefits from a strong cast, and the script successfully walks a line between horror-movie darkness and slapstick comedy. There are a lot of lessons in “After Hours”, but the biggest one, the same message as in most of these yuppie-nightmares, is something you've probably heard from your grandmother: “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”

3 stars out of 5