About Last Night

Anymore when I go to the theater to watch a comedy, I cringe in my seat before the film even starts, because I have come to expect a mediocre, lackluster film that does not do what it is intended to do which is to make me laugh. Seems ironic when these films are comedies, but talented comedy writers are very few and far between. When I went to see "About Last Night", I was hoping it would be a different scenario, but in actuality became what I expected.

This remake is a reimagined 1986 story is about two couples, Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Joan (Regina Hall), and Danny (Michael Ealy) and Debbie (Joy Bryant) as they journey from the bar to the bedroom and are eventually put to the test in the real world. What they should already know, but stumble around with is the fact that they put sex as the #1 ingredient that will allow their relationships to flourish, when in actuality, they find out a little too late that it's more of the sustaining aspects, like communication, honesty, and trust that are the paramount ingredients in which they must attempt to figure out if their relationships have any chance at all.

Others to round out the cast are Christopher McDonald as Casey McNeil, Adam Rodriguez as Steven Thaler, Joe Lo Truglio as Ryan Keller, Paula Patton as Alison, Danny's ex-girlfriend, Catherine Shu as Asian Manicurist, David Greenman as Isaac, and Bryan Callen as Trent.

This was adequately directed by Steve Pink ("Accepted" '06, "Hot Tub Time Machine" '10). He doesn't have a ton of feature film experience under his belt, so it's difficult to say if he could do better. Possibly if he can get his hands on a solid project, this just might occur. It was written by Leslye Headland based on the 1986 screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue which is based on "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" by David Mamet. David Mamet is an incredible writer and would be interesting to see how he wrote his play, because this screenplay is like so many other rom coms I've seen in the past: predictable, not very funny, adequately acted pieces of work.

If you're wondering about this one, rent the DVD. There are some momentary funny laughs, but overall, it's certainly not anything you haven't seen before.

Out of 4 Stars: 1.5                         Rated: R                            100mins.