ONE NIGHT STAND

** ^{out of} ****

An embarrassing affair

I admit that I was prepared for a letdown prior to seeing Figgis' follow-up to LEAVING LAS VEGAS. I wasn’t prepared for a complete turn into cloying emptiness, however.

Don't expect ONE NIGHT STAND to be a somewhat serious consideration of the consequences of quickies with strangers. Figgis has reworked a script by Joe Eszterhas (BASIC INSTINCT, SHOWGIRLS), known for stories involving substantial nudity and the self-conscious disregard of scruples, and it was probably best left alone. Enough remains so that no fingers are pointed, there is no suggestion of moral weight, and the result is as light and lingering as smoke. The initial awkwardness after the encounter is the only repercussion here. In fact, the affair is dealt as the fitting final piece in the romantic lives of the couples involved. It is an end as original as the playground joke after it has made its rounds, and just as substantial.

Immediately alarming is the tired familiarity of it all, albeit wrapped slickly. Successful commercial director Max Carlyle (Wesley Snipes), married with children, has one such affair with a married, ahem, rocket scientist, Karen (Nastassja Kinski). No, this is not a dispute with Ms. Kinski's intellectual talents but rather a disapproving finger at Figgis' persistent use of sophomoric narrative twists to which ONE NIGHT STAND'S end belongs to. Figgis winks and nudges at the audience, probably as a distraction away from the lack of revelation.

The rest of the time the film stays happily in the realm of uninvolving and time-wasting artificiality. There's a laughable dance sequence, a product placement that masquerades offensively as a supposed directorial effort (an unimaginative one at that) by Snipes' character and more filler scenes involving his employment, all terribly shiny and glamorous, of course. The superficiality of it all is keyed up by the overuse of the saxophone in Figgis' musical score. It's as if Figgis has taken a cue from David Hasselhoff, glad to let our time pass away with Baywatch moments.

The movie is redeemed from becoming an embarrassing comedy by strong acting, particularly by Robert Downey, Jr. His character is dying of AIDS (a cheap semblance of a moral spectre) and it is at his bedside that Max and Karen meet again. Only the threat of death breathes something resembling humanity into ONE NIGHT STAND, but one is beyond caring when it approaches. C

ONE NIGHT STAND

Directed by Mike Figgis.

Written by Mike Figgis and Joe Esterzhas

U.S.A. 1997.

Review completed on September 15, 1997.