The Night we called it a Day (2003)
Director: Paul Goldman
Movie review
From Time Out London
The comic potential in the story of Frank Sinatra’s 1974 Australian concert tour, when off-colour remarks to the local press incurred the wrath of the unions and left him a virtual prisoner in his Sydney hotel room, seems fairly obvious, but that doesn’t prevent this ill-judged frolic making the disastrous assumption we’ll be more interested in the plucky Aussie promoter’s tangled love life. Joel ‘Kinky Boots’ Edgerton works hard in the role, but his ill-starred romance with his secretary is so painfully underwritten it clogs the rest of the picture, where Dennis Hopper is intriguing casting as Ol’ Blue Eyes even if he never quite disappears into the role and proves somewhat stiff on stage when miming to an impressive soundalike. Although the idea’s to show the two men learning from one another, fact and fluff fail to make a persuasive blend, though things pick up when David Field’s union boss enters the fray, playing future PM Bob Hawke as a canny egotist grandstanding on the cause of a supposedly affronted nation. Occasionally amusing, but it’s not enough.Author: TJ
Time Out London Issue 1847: January 11-18 2006
Cast & crew
Director: Paul Goldman
Producer: Peter Clifton, Nik Powell, Emile Sherman
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith, Portia De Rossi, Joel Edgerton, Rose Byrne, David Hemmings, David Field full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 96 mins
UK Release: Jan 13 2006
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations











What do you think?
Post your review now