About Last Night (ALN) was an extra special treat for my Valentine’s weekend. Not only did I get to look at Kevin Hart and Michael Ealy for two hours, but I loved the soundtrack, AND I laughed my ass off! I wondered how this remake was going to go. I reviewed the 1986 ALN last year for our ’80s Valentine’s Love Fest. This version is so much raunchier, but so was the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which both films are adapted from. Well, I am very impressed.
I don’t want to do a compare/contrast review, so I will get it out now. I like that they kept the names and characteristics of best friends Bernie (Kevin Hart) & Danny (Michael Ealy), and best friends/roommates Joan (Regina Hall) & Debbie (Joy Bryant). I also liked the modernizing of the movie. I am an ’80s girl! I usually dislike remakes. But this remake kind of paid homage to the 1986 ALN. The new film kept Danny’s love of softball; they just changed the team to the L.A. Dodgers. I also like the details about Danny’s relationship with bar owner Casey (Christopher McDonald).
About the falling in love…
The movie opened up with a funky song, Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine by James Brown, which was appropriate for the opening dialogue between best friends, Bernie and Danny. They were waiting for the ladies, Debbie and Joan (Bernie’s previous night’s hook up) to show up for drinks. There is simultaneous dialogue happening on the way to the club by the ladies and inside the club (with the guys). I was laughing so hard as Bernie told Danny that he had “whiskey dick” last night. He had drunk so much that it was hard for him to get an erection. I love that the two couples had equal screen time. Bernie and Joan were the wild ones, while Debbie and Danny were calm and laid back, not really interested. They were too busy watching Bernie and Joan getting drunk and acting obnoxious. It wasn’t until Bernie and Joan went to the restroom (to bump and grind) that Debbie and Danny actually spoke each other. It was this conversation that led to a passionate night of making love, but an awkward morning after. The film shows the conflicts that arise when the individuals try to make a one-night stand into a love affair. Both couples struggle to communicate what being in love means to them.