'Night Shift'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan are just a couple of ideas men trying to rewatch the 1982 comedy 'Night Shift,' starring Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, and Shelley Long and directed by Ron Howard.
Cast
Michael Keaton as Billy 'Blaze' Blazejowski
Henry Winkler as Chuck Lumley
Shelley Long as Belinda
Kevin Costner as Frat Boy #1
Directed by: Ron Howard
Written by: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Music by: Burt Bacharach
Notes
- Keaton's debut is compared to Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs – Chris calls it the closest thing to Murphy walking into the bar in terms of a star-making entrance. Keaton was 31 and had been bouncing around stand-up and failed TV shows.
- 1982 was a watershed movie year: Stallone ('First Blood' + 'Rocky III'), Harrison Ford (Raiders + Blade Runner), Spielberg (E.T.), Arnold (Conan), Eddie Murphy (48 Hrs), Sean Penn (Fast Times), and Keaton/Ron Howard both launching careers.
- Henry Winkler was the biggest TV star in America and this was his last shot at a movie career. Keaton stole the movie from him and Winkler never had another real chance at film stardom.
- Brian Grazer found the source material in 1976 – a real news story about two city employees running a call girl ring out of a morgue. He spent six years getting it made, launching his partnership with Ron Howard.
- Kevin Costner appears as 'Frat Boy #1' in a blink-and-you-miss-it role during the frat party scene.
- Shelley Long worked with Cruise, Hanks, and Keaton in a five-year span – a remarkable trifecta.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“Do you really think prostitution is that funny?”
Ebert praised Keaton's 'superb comic performance' despite his low rating.
- The chalkboard prostitution pitch – 'What are we really talking about here? Prostitution.'
- Billy showing off his new limo with Jumping Jack Flash blasting
- The Barney Rubble scene – 'Boy, that Barney Rubble, what an actor'
Chuck doing a Rubik's Cube with a guide book on how to solve it
- The movie poster
- 'You're going over my head?' running bit with the delivery guy
- The one-on-one basketball game opening with the dead body going through the hoop
- The soundtrack: Van Halen, Jumping Jack Flash, Al Jarreau, Pointer Sisters
- Hookers with a heart of gold trope doesn't really exist in movies anymore
- Billy as an 'idea man' – his ideas are actually terrible (edible paper, feed mayo to tuna)
- Charlotte's weight-loss obsession
- Jumping Jack Flash in the limo scene
- Quarter Flash 'Night Shift' over the end credits
Belinda's backstory as a prostitute never makes sense – she has no drug problem, seems perfectly capable of a regular job
Winkler in the lawyer's office: 'I'm going to kill you, you're going to play tennis with God'
Grand L. Bush – basketball player in opening, later 'I was in junior high, dickhead' from Die Hard
- Kurt Russell and Mickey Rourke reportedly auditioned for Billy Blaze
- Jamie Lee Curtis would have been the obvious choice for Belinda but was in Trading Places
- Michael Keaton – no, his apex is Batman/Birdman era
- Prostitute comedies discussed – Risky Business is more successful but Night Shift may be funnier
Easiest Hanks pick ever
- None of the prostitutes have drug addictions or any real problems
- Is Billy on cocaine the entire movie?
- Business plan math doesn't work – only taking 10% yet Billy buys an $84,500 car in about a month
Bill's Mount Rushmore of prostitute movie characters: Vivian Ward, Lana, Ophelia, Alabama – nobody from the last 31 years makes the pantheon
Byron Mayo – both hosts agreed emphatically
- Is Billy Blaze on massive amounts of cocaine the entire movie?
- Could they have quietly restarted the business after the pimps went to jail?
Keaton's trademark satin bomber jacket – Keaton has said he still has it and plans to hand it down to his kids
- No bad ideas in a brainstorm
- Don't start a prostitution business in a morgue
Risky Business (1983)
Michael Keaton – unanimously and obviously
Craig called it 'very charming, enjoyable, incredibly watchable' and noted Keaton could have been Michael Scott on The Office
Dead guy going through the basketball rim
For Belinda: Ellen Barkin, Linda Fiorentino, late-80s Demi Moore, or 2023 Emma Stone transported back in time