The post At Midnight Review – A Movie That Struggles With Basic Genre Staples appeared first on Ready Steady Cut.
Directed by Jonah Feingold, we review the Paramount + 2023 movie At Midnight, which contains no spoilers.
There’s a mid-credits scene where a character explains to a beautiful, budding actress that the secret to acting is never to try to be funny. I fear that the creators of At midnight take the sentiment to heart in almost every way. And not just by ditching all comedy between protagonists and supporting characters, but in almost every way imaginable, including endless stagnant, confusing, and outdated dialogue that mimics the movie-within-a-movie script that the script exaggerates.
And it’s a shame because At midnight has two likable and up-and-coming prospects who deserve much better material.
At midnight review and plot summary
The film follows an actress, Sophie (Top Gun: Maverick’s Monica Barbarian), who seeks to break away from the superhero franchise that made his career. And besides, from the shadow of her boyfriend. Sophie starred in great companya Marvel-like franchise, with her boyfriend, Adam (Anders Holm), a star known for being feminized and who tends to hang out with Sophie whenever she gets the chance. Like most rom-com conventions do, Adam soon ruins their relationship by sleeping with a makeup artist, and Sophie surprises them.
By staying in a big hotel during filming Super Society 3she has a nice encounter with Alejandro (father of the bride Diego Boneta). He asks the junior manager to consider a privileged transfer to the hotel branch in New York. Alejandro has been tasked with tending to Sophie’s needs, which he despises. This includes making sure the bathroom is stocked with towels. He recovers some but does not know that the actress is showering. They pass each other at the same time, the towel covering their face (and other body parts). However, when Sophie is able to cover up and is about to rip it off, there is an undeniable and immediate attraction.
At midnight was led by Jonas Feingold (Dating & New York), who wrote the screenplay with John Porta And Maria Hinojos (Cindy LaRegia). The film seems to be seamlessly watered down with rewrites to the point where it loses any regional or cultural flair while quickly running out of steam after the first act. Or exactly? The Midnight Dance shows the pair having genuine warmth between the likable and gorgeous lead actors. It’s refreshing how Barbaro’s Sophie pursues Alejandro, whose buttoned chin and dimples I’m sure will make most women swoon.
The movie is downhill and borderline excruciating after this scene. If you look back, even when Alejandro de Boneta cooks a meal for the star, it’s filled with exposition and selfishness. There are several other scenes where the movie just seems to stagnate that stays there. For example, when he prepares a dish for Sophia on the beach, he briefly squeezes lime. She comments, “That’s a lot of lime,” and the scene inexplicably stays there and fades away.
The young man is a self-proclaimed expert in hospitality and cooking, but his specialty seems to be beer and tortilla chips, which is the equivalent of continuing chopped and then presenting a plate of cheese and crackers. You never really learn anything about these characters, especially their process and why they are so passionate about their craft. Or, frankly, each other. There are several scenes where the filmmakers try to force conflict into situations that are unwarranted and can easily be resolved. For example, a scene where he calls Sophia a “tourist” is easily explained. However, it was only used to create manufactured voltage that was not needed. The movie even goes too far where you’re deceived from the genre’s traditional staple cute moment.
At midnight has admirable qualities. I found it refreshing that entire scenes are spoken in Spanish when requested instead of characters speaking in English for American audiences. (Does anyone remember the Harrison Ford vehicle, K19: The widowmaker?). The threads are good and lift the material a bit. Feingold also tries (albeit tirelessly) to incorporate an old-fashioned quality influenced by other classic films. Whitney C*****g provides the only laughs in the film. Yet she is strangely absent for most of the second half of the picture. The replacement is an eclectic group. All are annoying supporting characters involved in Hollywood politics.
Is the 2023 movie At Midnight any good?
where the movies like Notting Hill prosperous, At midnight does not. Besides the fact that the title of the film should have been called Customer Relations, At midnight fumbles a fun premise with touches of Golden Age cinematic romantic comedy for a self-indulgent script that borders on sloppy. Like a short film idea trying to be stretched into a feature film, it’s a summer adventure trying to be stretched into an overarching love story. Feingold’s film would have worked better had it played more on the politics of the Hollywood angle and used its rom-com trappings as a backdrop.
What did you think of the Paramount+ 2023 movie At Midnight? Comments below.
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The post At Midnight Review – A Movie That Struggles With Basic Genre Staples appeared first on Ready Steady Cut.
