A Good Night to Die (2003) from Tuna and Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Two thumbs kinda down, but not all the way down.

Tuna's comments in white:

A Good Night to Die (2003) is one of those films Blockbuster acquired to release as Blockbuster exclusives for rental only. The film was made largely with German money. The idea didn't work, and they have been gradually releasing these B titles to the public. This one is a day in the life of two hit men, an older pro, and a kid who was trained by the old pro, and eventually became his best friend. This is the sort of film that you can't say much about without giving too much away.

The cast includes some familiar names, such as Michael Rapaport, Robin Givens, Ralph Macchio, Ally Sheedy and Lainie Kazan. The use of radical camera techniques did not add to the effectiveness of the film. Although it was not an especially good film, with a disappointing plot, I have to say that it held my interest to the end.

NUDITY REPORT
Two women show breasts.

The first is Tanja Schwedt, as a prostitute hired to help set up a senatorial hopeful for a hit.

The second is Penelope Fortier, as the former girlfriend of the older hit man, now with the younger.

Scoop's notes in yellow:

I watched all the way through as well, so it couldn't have been all bad.

The surprise ending was kind of cool, and it was kind of fun to see the Karate Kid and Ally Sheedy making complete fools of themselves as a garrulous hit man team named Donny and Marie.

DVD info from Amazon

  • no widescreen

  • no features

  • transfer seems faded and undercontrasted, but that may be the original

This film is kind of a shameless Tarantino rip-off. You can tell that Pulp Fiction is the director's favorite movie.

  • It uses a strange time-warp narrative.

  • It's all about hit men who spend most of their time talking about mundane things like fast food and 80s hair bands on their way to a hit.

  • It features plenty of obscure and trivial cultural references.

  • It's filled with grotesque, stylized, often comical ultra-violence, including a hit man who sits in the front seat of a car and splatters out the brains of the passenger in the back seat.

  • It features some forgotten and underappreciated actors who would like to resuscitate or jump start their careers. (I'm sure Macchio was not unaware of what a nearly identical role in Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.)

But - unlike Bryan Singer and Guy Richie, directors who brought some creative vitality to the basic Tarantino format, this director offered more or less a lower budget re-hash.

The Critics Vote

  • no major reviews online

The People Vote ...

  • no theatrical release that I know of

 
The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, Tuna says (speaking for both reviewers), "This one is barely watchable, so C-."

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