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The Movie:
 Plenty
of filmmakers have attempted (most unsuccessfully) to emulate
Steven Soderbergh's breakthrough indie film sex, lies, and
videotape since its release in 1989. The problem, however,
with trying to emulate Soderbergh's classic is that the slightest
misstep tends to make your film appear amateurish and
manipulative. I'd accuse Gregory Hatanaka's Until the Night
of doing this very thing, but the problem here is that Hatanaka's
film doesn't really know what it wants to be. The characters seem
to drift in and out of the film with little semblance as to what
exactly their purpose is in the overall narrative. Which would be
fine if Gregory Hatanaka was as capable a filmmaker as Soderbergh
but, unfortunately, he's not.
 It's
certainly not for lack of acting talent that Until the Night
fails, as the main actors are all quite capable of doing some
good (if not great) work. Norman Reedus proved it most strikingly
in Mimic and the cult-hit The Boondock Saints,
Missy Crider was excellent in Bill Paxton's Frailty, and
Kathleen Robertson had her moments as Clare Arnold on Beverly
Hills, 90210. Capable actors, to be sure, but Hatanaka
mostly wastes their talent with a second-rate script and highly
unlikable characters. Robertson's career woman has a cheery
public image that immediately endears her to the audience, but as
soon as she shows her gloomy disaster of a personal life, we
begin to hate her just as much as the rest of Hatanaka's
characters. The Crider and Reedus characters aren't much better
as they both appear continuously miserable throughout the film.
 That's
not to say, however, that everything about Until the Night
is bad. There are a few highlights to be found throughout the
film. Yasu Tanida's cinematography is often challenging and fresh
with some very nicely composed shots, and an expressive color
palette. Reedus does his own handheld camerawork for the DV
scenes his character shoots and, although it often reminds the
viewer of a bad Blair Witch… imitation, it's interesting to
see the actor behind the camera. Also of note are a few steamy
scenes between Reedus and Sarah Lassez's character. Lassez is
certainly easy on the eyes, but her real knack is for looking
natural in front of the character. She has a beautiful
girl-next-door look to her that is immediately endearing.
 Sadly,
the few good things about Hatanaka's film cannot save it from
becoming a real downer of a story. Aside from an entirely
uninteresting opening sequence, Until the Night starts
off promisingly with a strong cast of some familiar faces.
Reedus, ultimately, does the best he can with what he's given
– a weak script and an unlikable character, and there's a
nice nostalgia factor to watching Kathleen Robertson do her thing
again after practically disappearing after Beverly Hills,
90210. It's not enough, however, to save the film from
failing to be either entertaining or enlightening. Hatanaka tries
to make a film that shows the underbelly of a Los Angeles filled
with sexual tension, violence, and despair. What he, ultimately,
ends up making with Until the Night is a miserable film
about miserable people.
The DVD
Video:
 Until
the Night is presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
format that doesn't do a whole lot to make Yasu Tanida's
cinematography look nearly as interesting as it actually is. The
very expressive color palette comes across fairly well, with some
nice blown-out yellows and red, but flesh tones are not entirely
accurate at all times, and shadows and lighting aren't quite as
sharp as they could be throughout. Detail is lacking, grain is
abundant at times, and there are some instances of dirt and spots
to be found. The transfer actually makes the entire film look
like it was shot on digital video, as there isn't that much
difference between the film footage and the footage from the
camera that Reedus's character uses throughout the film. Overall,
this transfer gets the job done and actually does a nice job with
the varied colors in Until the Night, but it could have
been much better if a bit more care was taken.
Sound:
 The audio on this disc is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1
and Dolby 2.0 stereo formats, which get the job done, but
ultimately fail to impress. The tracks are actually very similar,
as there isn't very much action in the surround channels, but the
winner here is the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. It sounds much
fuller, the dialogue is slightly louder and more distinct, and
the film's interesting score gets some help from the rear
speakers. Spatial separation is fine across the front channels,
but dialogue – while still always discernable – is
recorded slightly low. Volume fluctuation is a bit problematic at
times, while .1 LFE channel is rarely, if ever, used effectively.
These tracks may have a few issues and they certainly are not all
that dynamic, but they do manage to suffice.
Extras:
 For a
film as depressing and lackluster as Until the Night,
it's surprising to see Pathfinder Home Entertainment include as
many extra features as they have on this disc. The first of which
is an audio commentary featuring Writer/Director Gregory
Hatanaka and Actors Kathleen Robertson and Luke Y. Thompson.
Robertson and Thompson seem to be a bit lost in the beginning of
the track, as Hatanaka attempts to bring them back to the film
with some anecdotes and encouraging the participants to recall
their scenes. The problem, however, is that Hatanaka tries to be
very cerebral and technical about his chat while Robertson and
Thompson seem to take it a little less seriously. Thompson, at
one point, even asks Hatanaka what the film is actually about
because he, clearly, has no clue. While comments like that are
even more reason why Until the Night doesn't really
work, they don't really add anything to the enjoyment of the
film. This track, ultimately, fails because Hatanaka comes across
as a pretentious filmmaker who thinks his film is better than it
actually is. Robertson and Thompson, on the other hand, seem to
at least have some fun with the commentary. Maybe they were in on
the joke.
Also included on this disc are nine deleted scenes,
which would have added little (if anything) to the film itself.
While this isn't really groundbreaking material, it is nice to
see the excised scenes included here.
Finally, we also have text biographies for seven
of the main players, a photo gallery that
includes 24 stills from the film set, and two trailers
for Until the Night.
Final Thoughts:
 If
you put the cast of Until the Night in a film with some
likeable characters, and a tighter script, you'd probably have a
pretty good basis for something worthwhile. If only Gregory
Hatanaka had thought about those likeable characters, and that
tighter script, when he sat down to write Until the
Night, he might have made a film worth watching. Instead, he ended up with a mess of meandering
characters that I could barely stand to watch. Reedus does the
best he can, and there are a few sexy scenes featuring Sarah
Lassez, but it's not nearly enough for me to recommend the film.
Pathfinder has made a valiant effort with an adequate
audio-visual presentation and a larger-than-expected assortment
of extra material, but all that can't save the film from being a
miserable experience. Do yourself a favor and rent sex, lies,
and videotape. There's a reason Soderbergh's film is
considered a classic and Until the Night is barely a
blip on the radar. |
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