Late Last Night (1999 TV Movie)
8/10
Surprising, darkly hilarious, night on the town goes wrong
10 July 1999
This movie was a big surprise -- straight to TV, misleading previews -- I didn't expect much. But it is a sly wickedly humorous tale of Dan (Emilio Estevez) who thinks his marriage is falling apart, contacts an old friend (Bobby Edner) and goes on the town for an increasingly disastrous night out, involving stolen cars, fast girls who turn out to be strippers, various dangerous drugs, and eventually arrest. On the way there are some eyepopping scenes involving sinister people in off-limit night clubs, and an over-the-top choreographed lip-synch to Queen's "Somebody to Love". Dan is lead on in all this by the Stranger Danger Kid, who is every mother's worst nightmare. After his arrest Dan is interviewed by a psychiatrist (Diane Lane) in a hilariously off-the-wall performance, mixing sympathy for the victim with an icy payoff. We are left wondering if perhaps the dangerous friend is real or an alter-ego leading Dan out of his straight life down the path he secretly wishes his life had taken. A game of golf in the dark with the dangerous friend, using a stolen Cadillac as a buggy, leads Dan to the realization that his life is good and that he wants to make a go of it with his wife.

Altogether a clever and witty film with many interesting surprises along the way. The ending is a little soft, but anything else would have been just too edgy.
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