retro movie review: John Landis double feature

John Landis was certainly productive in 1985; that year saw two Landis feature films released in theaters, a rarity for modern-day directors.  The first, Into the Night, immediately vanished into obscurity, where it remains to this day.  The second, Spies Like Us, was a box office success and is fondly remembered today as an example of when Chevy Chase was not just funny, but hilarious, and wildly popular.  A different era, it seems.  Spies Like Us is indeed a good film -- not as great as its surprisingly rabid fans may recall, perhaps, but certainly entertaining -- but Into the Night, despite its obscurity, is an equally good film, and has always been closer to my heart.

Into the Night stars Jeff Goldblum -- not as famous as he is today, but then considered a "rising star" -- as Ed Okun, a man whose chronic insomnia is starting to affect his work at an architectural firm.  His buddy Herb (Dan Aykroyd) urges him to take a much-needed vacation, and Ed resists at first, until he discovers that his wife is having an affair and that his insomnia is due to the fact that, on a purely subconscious level, he has sort of suspected this for a while.

Ed heads for the airport, but he never does take that vacation.  Instead, he meets Diana, a modern-day take on the classic trope, the damsel in distress.  Diana, played by a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, is on the run from diamond smugglers, and Ed, almost on a whim, decides to help her try to find out why they're after her, and why her usual friends have all mysteriously and suddenly turned their back on her.  Ed's motivation isn't due to attraction or conventional heroism; he merely helps Diana because, lost without sleep and a marriage, he has nothing better to do.

Although the plot ostensibly calls for an action hero in the lead, Goldblum is indeed better casting, as the character requires acting chops and a bit of quirkiness rather than Bruce Willis-style hijinks.  Into the Night may not be for everyone's taste, but it is a good film, balancing action, comedy, and mystery.

My favorite scene is the big fight scene, for two reasons that make it a true novelty: First, the fight takes place in a living room while Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man plays on the TV in the background, and Landis ingeniously choreographs the fight to be scored by the Hans Salter music emanating from the classic film playing in the background.  Second, the big fight is between two tertiary characters played by rock legends Carl Perkins and David Bowie.  This is both daring and fun; Bowie may be something of an actor, but Perkins isn't, and more to the point, both of these characters have only appeared in one or two other scenes, but Landis chose to give them the big fight scene, limiting Goldblum's participation to a very brief interaction before Ed chooses to flee and let Bowie and Perkins duke it out.

Speaking of Bowie and Perkins, Landis has always been a fan of making his viewers play "spot the cameo," and Into the Night represents the most eclectic cast he's ever assembled, made up of character actors, rock stars, and the most film directors ever assembled for any single non-documentary film.

Spies Like Us is by far more familiar to viewers, and more conventional in its concept.  Much has been made of the fact that Landis intended it as an homage to the "Road pictures" that once starred Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (who makes a cameo), but the film's commercial success lies in the fact that Spies Like Us also plays as the sort of modern-day action-comedy buddy picture that was just beginning to become popular at the time (and remains popular to this day).  The film, for those relatively few who are unfamiliar with it, stars Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd as Emmett Fitzhume and Austin Millbarge, two nobodies who work low, low-level jobs for the Department of Defense.  The story is set into motion when Austin and Emmett are suddenly assigned to active espionage fieldwork; they are tricked into thinking they've been promoted, but they're actually just serving as unknowing decoys for the real spies.

The script is pure formula, and certainly doesn't deserve any awards, but it does exactly what a film of this type needs to do, providing Aykroyd and Chase with enough amusing situations for them to use their established personas in various ways.

As with nearly all Landis films -- even if not to the degree of Into the Night -- Spies Like Us is chock full of cameo appearances, from director/ Muppeteer Frank Oz as a Pentagon classroom instructor to blues legend B.B. King as a CIA agent.

If you're of my generation, you've probably seen and enjoyed (and might even be able to quote) the fondly remembered Spies Like Us.  If you like your movies a bit more quirky, however, rent Into the Night.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.