Just One Night
Year: 2009
Directors: Mike West
Stars: Juliet Ladines, Steve McMahon, Steve Luckie
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Road Rage Films
Running Time: 22 Mins
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/justonenightmovie




Every so often, I will see a film that really makes me dumbfounded to why this was a bad film. It could be for various reasons. This would fall into that category, as the material was good, but it could have been more interesting if the characters were interesting and I wasn’t left with questions by the time the film ended.

What sacrifices would you make if you had the chance to spend the night with a hot gorgeous looking woman? This film goes into that question, as two friends that are both married meet a woman at a bar. One of them decides to risk his marriage and spends the night with the woman. Soon that choice will lead to deceit, lies, and murder, as the one-night stand is more than it appears to be.

By the time Just One Night ended, it felt like one of those one-night stands that you would like to forget. This short film was one of those films that suck the emotion and attention out of the room. Matt West’s direction was very dull and unenergetic. The direction felt that way because at times, the action was very dull. It was predictable and didn’t make me interested in the story. Some of that also has to do with the acting. The acting wasn’t that good, including the lead performance. The lead performance is also critical, in whether you’re invested in the character and the film or not. I was not invested in this film at all. The lead performance felt very dull and amateurish at times. By the time this short ended, I was thankful that it was only twenty-two minutes.

Besides the acting, the other major problem this film had was the fact the screenplay and it’s story was very uninteresting. It’s sad to say that because there is some material in the film’s screenplay that was interesting enough, but it was executed poorly. The story really didn’t need to go back and forth between the present and the past, via the videotape. By doing this, it doesn’t give any background to any of the characters, thus there was no character development. It hurts because this is a short film. The screenplay never goes into the relationship between the lead character and his wife, as you never get a glimpse of what life was like with them, as you are left wondering why the main character was cheating on his wife. The reason wasn’t clear enough, which leaves you with questions because we get any insight into their relationship..

“Just One Night” is an uninteresting film that could have a lot better if it had better acting and character development.

Review Rating: One Star.