Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Night and the City (1992)

Director: Irwin Winkler

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Nothing to write home about in this remake. Richard Price's script is typically funny-tough, but the structuring is aimless and the characters psychologically nowhere. Motormouth shyster lawyer Harry Fabian (De Niro) is humiliated in court by big shot boxing promoter Boom Boom (King), and decides to take revenge by recruiting Boom Boom's retired brother Al (Warden) and promoting some bouts of his own. He turns to his married mistress, bartender Helen (Lange), for the financing, but everything he touches plunges him deeper into trouble. None of this makes any sense (Fabian cheats Helen with a bogus liquor licence, for instance, and she doesn't complain). Worst of all, Fabian is issued with all the inner depths of a DJ, and we're expected to care about his ambitions. The hopes of no-hopers in film noir rendered up a piteous bouquet, but there's none of that here. Even De Niro can't do much with the role, beyond yammering and dancing on the spot like a warmed-over version of his Johnny Boy in Mean Streets. (From the novel by Gerald Kersh.

Author: BC

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

10 alternative romantic movies

10 alternative romantic movies

Romance blossoms in the most unlikely of places...

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects