Martin Scorcese is not known for being a director of comedies, so it comes as no surprise that when he got around to directing one that it would be a black comedy about a nightmarish night of an ordinary New Yorker caught up in a crazy, crazy Soho world of weird art, strange women and just good old fashioned bad luck. This is a the very first screenplay by Joseph Minnion, who went on to pen Julia and Julia (1987) and The Vampire's Kiss (1988) [he also penned the "Mirror Mirror" episode of Speilberg's Amazing Stories (TV1985-1987), also directed by Scorcese). Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne, recognizable from his role as the dead and rotting pal in American Werewolf In London), finds himself in a world apart from anything he used to. During the day, he's a boring word processor clerk, whose life seems to be going nowhere, then after a chance encounter with a blond in a diner (Rosanna Arquette) and a cab ride from hell to Soho, all that changes! Of course, many of Paul's responses to the women he encounters in Soho, give the impression that he is less than ordinary in his private life--so then, he brings a lot of hilarious bad luck on himself.
Hackett also tells stories that lead the viewer to believe that he has had some pretty bad luck throughout his life. His story about having his tonsils out when he was a kid and being taken to the burn ward instead of pediatrics never even gets finished, still it's enough to show that his life has been on the ridiculous side from some time.
Released in 1985 to rave reviews from the critics. The film was big at the Independent Spirit Awards and was a favorite at Cannes. Still Scorcese directing a comedy didn't exactly take Hollywood by storm, not least because it is profoundly set in and it about New York City. So it flies a bit under the radar amongst fans of Scorcese, some of who hate the film because it's not a gritty crime thriller with teeth. But it does have teeth, they are just quirky. Scorcese even went so far as to through in cameos by the like of Cheech and Chong. Another thing that is a bit different for a Scorcese film: the music is sparse. He is well known for needle drop soundtracks, yet here he has directed a film that is a lot like a play.
As a point of trivia, the screenplay was actually a assignment of Minnion's in a film course that he was taking at Columbia at the time. He was 26 years old when the script with picked up by Scorcese for direction. Talk about luck! The film was originally to be directed by Tim Burton. It was also the first film that Scorcese had made in a decade without Robert De Niro (a habit he obviously did not break).
The film can be found in
, a collection that includes Mean Streets.
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