After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

[7]

Jason Patric stars as an alcoholic drifter with a troubled past who wanders into a kidnapping/ransom plot with a widow and her uncle, played by Rachel Ward and Bruce Dern. While Dern’s character does much of the planning, Patric and Ward develop a lustful relationship. But does she really love him? And can either of them trust Dern’s character?

Under the direction of James Foley (Fear, Glengarry Glen Ross), After Dark, My Sweet succeeds wildly in transporting us into the mind, eyes, and shoes of a sympathetic but potentially dangerous man. Jason Patric gives the best performance of his career (that I’ve yet seen). His performance is tightly controlled and carefully measured, down to the character’s specific walk, vocal intonation, eye movements, and other idiosyncrasies. Ward and Dern pull their share of the burden in what is essentially a three-character drama.

Foley knows well that eyes are windows to the soul, so he gets us up close and personal with these people, in intimate camera angles and movements that make it all the easier for us to ask, ‘What would we do?’ at such a moral crossroads. The dilapidated ambience of Ward’s neglected estate, Maurice Jarre’s moody underscoring, and a memorable montage of steamy sex scenes between Patric and Ward all help make this film one of the more memorable neo-noir efforts since the 40s.