Martin Scorsese's After Hours -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 114) 

Kubrick watched After Hours repeatedly in planning Eyes Wide Shut. It was partly the inspiration for initially thinking of casting Steve Martin as the original Dr. Bill. Yes, AH captures NYC of the hour back in the day. Excellent film.

Nightmarish is the perfect word to describe this great film, professor. For me, its a dilation of time. Most American cities have this feel during the hour of 3 AM. Good video.

I started nightclubbing in downtown Toronto when I turned 19, in 1984. Going to everything from big flashy clubs to weird new wave and punk bars, to scuzzy clubs where the only decor was day-glo graffiti with black lights making it all glow neon. When I was 20 I was working the overnight shift at the front desk at a downtown hotel. And by the time I was 21 I was working behind the bar and in the DJ booth in a bar one flight of stairs down from street level in a part of town where after dark was only populated by the freaky downtown crowd of the mid 80s. And I loved it. So when I rented this movie back one night after a shift behind the bar in 1987 I fell in love with it. Because I could see this kind of thing happening. I'd had similar (mis)adventures in those days. Though nowhere near as extreme, and certainly not all in one night. But this movie certainly evokes a kind of nostalgia for me of my youth.

After hours is underrated, and I loved it.

Easily Scorsese’s most underrated film (King of Comedy gets its fair share of praise) Amazing film

Scorsese's greatest movie. Also, best soundtrack EVER. Griffin Dunne is wonderful as Paul Hackett 🕑

I remember originally seeing when it came out on VHS right before I was entering college... I had never seen anything like it... of course when I moved to Vancouver the movie totally 'made sense'! ;)

Because it captures the mysterious creepiness of the time in New York, and its art scene, PERFECTLY.

When Scorsese was first offered to direct this film he had decline it to work on The Last Temptation of Christ. They then got Tim Burton to direct the movie instead, but once Last Temptation got postponed Burton allowed Scorsese to direct it instead. I wonder how different and stranger After Hours would've been had it been a Tim Burton film. Regardless, this is actually one of my personal favorites from Scorsese. Possibly top five.

i watched this last night, lmao im scared to go out at night now

I have never seen this. Very excited to watch when I get off work... after hours. Big fan of Kafkaesque stories. Good recommendation

Hey great choice of movie to choose for a retro review. Your commentary really helped me think about the movie in a deeper way. Thanks.

You have great taste in movies. I have read 3 of your reviews of movies that you consider to be great. All 3 are among my all time favorites. "After Hours", "Tess" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo" are great movies that were well reviewed but are now all but forgotten. I saw all 3 in the theater during their first run and have viewed them multiple times since that initial viewing. I have always believed that movies should elicit some level of emotional reaction from the audience. "After Hours" made me laugh at times but also made me feel frustrated as Paul faced challenge after challenge. This movie reminded me of "The Out of Towners" with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. The premise is similar, but "After Hours" is much deeper and at a whole other level of weirdness.

Found you're channel recently after watching Harakiri and wanting to see some different perspectives. I really like your very educational teacher approach also love this weird movie, especially the random Cheech and Chong cameo.

After Hours is my favorite Scorsese film. It’s both funny and nightmarish.

It's an Odyssey

Nice, this was a 1st time watch about a month ago for me. Absolutely loved it & surprised it came from Scorsese - impressed that he would create something so strange. Very dreamlike, or nightmarelike, capturing the feeling being trapped - I liked the Alice in Wonderland reference you made. Perhaps it's linked to his employment & feeling trapped in a never ending cycle (inescapable corporate job), since the film starts & ends there... which I can relate to & have had my own unsettling dreams about. I also drew comparisons from the works of Bunuel, particularly The Exterminating Angel & Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Thanks!

I enjoyed very much this video. Also, some of the rich comments. Thank you for this content. I've just missed the mention of the screenwriter, Joseph Minion. He did an amazing job!! Cheers! :)

After hours is like a feverish dream to me. Every time I try to grasp the meaning of it, it eludes my comprehension and understanding of what it really means. Martin Scorsese really made something special and captured 1980’s New York city at night in a twisted yet satisfying way. I’m glad you referenced a sort of parallel with Taxi driver, because although they are filmed 10 years apart, I feel like they could’ve been in the same universe of quirky night time big city life. Great commentary! Subbed!

A great film. I always thought the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode The Zeppo was just so similar to After Hours in that Xander found himself in this crazy nightmare world in the night that he just couldn't get away from similar to Griffin Dunne's character in After Hours.

Its also a play on Dantes Inferno. But yes Manhattan was this strange during this time period. I think its a masterpiece of a dark comedy loved it since I saw it when it came out. As Interesting as the Movie 'Bulletproof heart" or David Lynch "Mullholland Drive". If you want to know if you could have hung in the 80's with out being an open wound watch this movie. Gen X great films.

LOve this movie - parts of this movie resemples part of my life.

This movie is a narratology of Galileo Galilee’s life, discoveries, and interactions with other astronomers, especially Kepler. The shape of the story is a parabola - one of Galileo’s rediscoveries - and in the narrative the focus of the story is the bagel and cream cheese paperweight/Kiki Bridges. His position of hand to ear occurs at the beginning on the phone, and at the end turned into a sculpture. SOHO represents belief in a solar-centric planetary system. Marcie is Venus; the diner and Peter are the Sun; bartender is Kepler: the events that turn into pursuit by mob are a description of his interactions with Kepler, beginning with Marcie’s death representing Galileo’s fame eclipsing Kepler’s. The cash register represents Saturn; Terri Gar represents a phase of Venus; her flyer of Paul represents publishings Kepler did after doing Galileo’s astrological charts; the flooding toilet is the tides; O’dell is another phase of Venus and Mr Frosty is the Milky Way; the roving crowd from the bartender’s building is Jupiter’s spot; Joan is the last phase of Venus, she entombs Paul in his house arrest that mirrors his position at the beginning; Neil and Pepe are the Spanish Inquisition; his being dropped off at work represents the house arrest of Galileo. When you see it through this lens, the deciphering becomes much more thrilling.

Fantastic movie ,actually makes you feel your in a nightmare yourself

THEORY THEORY THEORY, He entered purgatory when he left the office passing the gates, and when he ruturned completing the circle, he passed purgatory and either went to heaven and hell

I always considered After Hours a shaggy dog story. I love it the way I love the Big Lebowski.

Scorcese is best Hollywood director ever, the best

My hot take: The best Scorsese film

Sounds like something I want to watch

I think the primary theme is that Paul gets trapped (emasculated) by every woman he meets. Also, Scorsese captures the strange feeling associated with late nights.

In my top three movies of all time. It has everything I like, including the Bad Brains. Sweet pick

I just watched it on a whim.. cuz it showed up on my HULU algorithm and I saw Scorsese directed it I'll be honest.. I assumed the dude smoked some bad sh* t...and/or took drugs.. and what we saw was some kinda psychedelic experience or dream like/ nightmare sequence played out in real time.. But then there were subtle things that took place that brought me back to thinking it was actually happening I'll be honest tho.. the chain of events that happened were all so random and dream like... and the fact he would switch his moods and interests so rapidly...it JUST CAME OFF LIKE A HUGE DREAM. at some point I knew that it was gonna end with him just waking up ... or him returning back to his place And while there are a few take aways from this...the random and strange events and people that kept popping up .. knowing they want to meet him exactly.. all keep me thinking the dude was AS SHOWN... BORED WITH HIS LIFE AND THE MONOTONY OF IT... and this night then changed him after . But I definitely think this was a dream or a bad trip No way all of these things happened to him.. in the real world in real time.

Kinda off topic, but are you planning to watch The Human Condition trilogy?

This movie 🍿 is great because it's in the 80's

I "got" this movie. But I didn't really care for it. It reminded me of the better Into the Night and Uncut Gems (which I hated). I think Taxi Driver is a much better Scorsese NYC film.

Alot of stuff was thrown at the wall with this film but left me a bit cold in the end. Felt like Scorsese going Lynchian but a bit lightweight

Out Lynch's Lynch

didnt he try to flush kleenex and thats why the toilet overflowed?

Definitely the weirdest Scorsese movie I’ve ever seen Finished it 5 minutes ago

Thought this movie failed miserably as both a comedy and satire. I feel like the script didn’t even attempt to be funny or interesting. Genuinely surprised at the acclaim this movie gets.

What makes this movie great? Nothing. It's average at best.