Night & The City (1992)

Producer-turned-director Irwin Winkler (The Net) crafted this 1992 remake of Jules Dassin's 1950 film noir about a small-time hustler in London who gets in over his head. Winkler's version is set in New York and stars Robert De Niro as a shyster lawyer who decides to get even with a boxing promoter (Alan King) who bests him in court. A couple of innocents are talked into helping the cause, notably the brother (Jack Warden) of De Niro's enemy and a barmaid (Jessica Lange) who agrees to finance the operation. Everything goes south, plunging the hero into prospects of real disaster. The film is far from an exemplary, contemporary noir, but its outstanding cast, with no shortage of charisma and dynamics, keeps things terribly interesting. So does the funny but terse script by Richard Price (Clockers), who also has a cameo as a doctor. Winkler's sensibilities as a tasteful and intelligent producer still get in the way of his daring as a director, but he does leave us with much to be satisfied about. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Fine performance by De Niro

This is a remake of Night and the City (1950) directed by Jules Dissan, who was blacklisted by Hollywood because of actions by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and for that reason is dedicated to Dissan who had to continue his career in Europe. The original film starred Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Francis L. Sullivan and Herbert Lom. I haven't seen that film, but I understand that it is very good.

This film from 1992 is not bad; however for some reason its reputation isn't much. The voters at IMDb give it a rather tepid 5.7 stars out of 10 while giving the original 8 out of 10. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with:

(1) Robert De Niro playing a non-heroic character. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with his acting. He is outstanding as Harry Fabian, flimflam low life lawyer and cheap BS artist who tries desperately to make a big splash as a fight promoter. I think most De Niro fans would prefer to see him in a more two-fisted role. At any rate, those who didn't like the movie almost certainly didn't care for De Niro's performance since his character dominates the action.

(2) The ending, which some might see as unfinished and others as disagreeable since, regardless of what transpires, Fabian is still a loser, perhaps bigger than ever.

(3) Some rather cheesy plot play. Near the end Fabian and Helen (Jessica Lange looking as fetching as ever) hide in a dead end alley among dumpsters and trash cans. Well, they should have continued running since the guys after them were only walking. Also when Fabian and Helen run out the side door of the restaurant they go the wrong way so that the heavies can see them running across the street. Had they turned left instead of right (as anybody in their situation would have done) they would not even have been seen. Furthermore, Fabian in a flamboyant gesture throws $12,000 into the air that flutters to the ground in the dead end alley. Nobody bothers to pick it up. That could happen.

What cannot be faulted is the authentic New York atmosphere created by director Irvin Winkler, who is better know as a producer, most notably of the Sylvester Stallone "Rocky" films, and the fine work by the rest of the cast, especially Alan King (Ira "Boom Boom" Grossman), Eli Wallach (Peck), Cliff Gorman (Phil Nasseros), and Jack Warden (Al Grossman). The story itself, from a novel by Gerald Kersh (script by Richard Price), is a variation on the "lovable, colorful loser makes good" theme, only in this case, like an inept noir anti-hero, he falls on his face--more than once, by the way.

No real De Niro fan should miss this. Personally I thought it was one of his best performances. The rapid fire dialogue, the fawning, pathetic, yet somehow uplifting personality were not something most actors could pull off, at least not nearly as well. De Niro became the character he portrayed.

Bottom line: definitely worth seeing. You will not be bored. December 10, 2006

OLD-FASHIONED TRIBUTE TO GANGSTER FILMS ala JOHN GARFIELD, or BROADWAY DANNY ROSE MEETS RUPPERT PUPKIN

As the title of this review suggests that NIGHT AND THE CITY is kinda like BROADWAY DANNY ROSE MEETS RUPPERT PUPKIN; or JOHNNY from MEAN STREETS if he was a shmuck lawyer instead of Pure Anarchy. I'm big fans of Cliff Gorman and Alan King. And JESSICA LANGE will always be a Hollywood goddess to me. It's just an old-fashioned gangster melodrama of the type Warner Brothers put out in the 1930s and 1940. DeNiro was in the John Garfield role, and Jessica Lange was in the Ann Sheridan role. Cliff Gorman was played by George Raft, or Bogart. And Alan King was played by E.G. Robinson. Jack Warden was played by Alan Jenkins. He loses his mind before the big fight and dies of a heart attack. NIGHT AND THE CITY is a tribute to the old fashioned classic gangster films. August 26, 2006

Butler fans, don't rush to buy

Gerard Butler fans, don't rush out to buy this one. He is not in it. It's a glitch on the part of Amazon. If you did buy it and are still looking at the extras in an attempt to find him, just relax and forget it. Eat popcorn. This one is a pale copy of a 1940s film with Richard Widmark that you may like much, much better. Widmark could have menaced snarly rings around ol' 'You talkin' to me?' February 3, 2006

FUNNY TALE ABOUT A LOVABLE LOSER.

"Night And The City" is not a great drama, neither a great comedy, but it is an entertaining and funny movie. Robert De Niro is Harry Fabian, a loser who tries to put his hands in more things that he can really manage, and Jessica Lange is Helen Nasseros, Harry's love interest, despite she is a married woman.

As the story unfolds, there will be several tragedies in the path of our two antiheroes, all these tragedies are a combination of drama, farce and comedy. Definitely, "Night And The City" is not a classic, but it is a funny movie, recommendable for all the fans of the great Robert De Niro that are trying to see the entire Robert De Niro catalogue (like myself). At the end of the day this is an entertaining movie. November 22, 2003

Save your money! Deniro's too good for this cinematic trash!

I am a big Robert DeNiro afficionado so this movie was a big letdown for me. I am sure people are going to vote against this review, but I am being honest here and I don't believe in voting on reveiws. I gave it 2 stars because it has De Niro. I want my $ back. I have no interest in boxing, so I found the plot uninteresting and hard to follow/get interested in as hard as I tried. Now, if you like boxing, than you might like this film. But as we all know, Deniro gave a stellar performance in another boxing film so save your $ and time for that one! (Raging Bull).

DeNiro plays Harry Fabian, a fast-talking attorney who apparently does not make enough money(?!) and so plunges into the world of boxing promotion to make more $ and make more of a name for himself. The problem is, he scams and lies, and schemes his way there. And frustratingly, he scams and lies to Jessica Lang'es character (she fronts a lot of hard-earned $ for him) and Jack Warden, the 2 better people in this film and the only who treat Harry decently. So, I found myself not liking Deniro's character becuase he is not a good person. If by the end the character had somehow broken his steady pattern of lying and being selfish, than I would have felt more satisfied w/the ending, but the ending as it is is very depressing and I didn't think his character was going to get better as a person. I hated the ending to this film; I was left w/a "is that it?" feeling and felt cheated of my time. I do like the theme of 2 people trying to make thier lives better and rising above circumstances, but the way Harry tries to is unhealthy and its frustrating that he does not escape his pattern of lies and deceits.

This movie is violent and has bad language, especially against women and I found those words to be offensive. For some reason, they felt the need to have Deniro's character beaten up at least twice and a woman dressed as a nun kicked out of a bar violently. Also, a young clubworker is mean and rude and taunts Jack Warden's character, making fun of his age. I kept wanting Jack Warden to beat that guy, but why is this humiliation of the elderly considered entertaining? I certainly didn't and found it destressing and it just made me angry. To all you screenwriters/directors out there reading this, life is bad enough!! Why do you have to inundate us w/violence and bad language? (This movie reaffirmed what I've felt for years: that the city and city people are ugly, ugly, ugly. His character is almost mugged in the opening credits. I assume Deniro made this movie w/his Tribeca Productions company to finance his company but Bobby, wouldn't you want to make better quality films? With big name actors receive hundres of scripts a year I feel he could have picked a film that would finance his film company and also have artistic merit. This film only makes me not want to ever go/live in New York. Please stop ruining your once-brillian career w/below mediocre, commercial films like this!!!

Even though Harry is a bad person, I still could not take my eyes off of DeNiro and I'll tell you why....Robert Deniro is THE SEXIEST American male actor alive (outside of Brando)!!!! His hair looks different here and he is full of life and energy in this film. He must have been aroud 48 here, and I don't know how he got the energy for these scenes. His Harry is so mercurial here, he dances through the film. To get the rhythm, the director had De Niro wear an earpiece which played "Let's Dance" and baby you can dance w/me anytime! : ) I wish he and Lange had had a real love scene. I felt their characters having sex in the street was trashy. Now why would Jessica Lange's character be attraced to this guy who won't even have the decency to take her to his place? He's that cheap and he's a lawyer! Their talents are too great for this uncharming piece of drivel. Alan King as the mean fight promoter was ok. This movie had bad late 80's music in it. This movie has no heart and no class!

Now, if you want to see DeNiro in great films that deserve his talent, see Taxi Driver, The Godfather Part 2, Meanstreets, The Deer Hunter, Heat, Awakenings. "Falling in Love" and "Stanley and Iris" are DeNiro films in which is he is not playing a violent mobster or murderer/rapist. I highly recommend those two. Jessica Lange and Deniro both were in "Cape Fear" another good film, but it is very, violent. Deniro never found the great directors he could have had to showcase his talent other than Martin Scorcese & Coppola. October 7, 2003

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