Michael Keaton & Night Shift

September 5, 2017 Chopped Onion Comments 0 Comment

Michael Keaton turns 66 today and I watched Night Shift, his 1982 comedy about a pair of morgue workers who turn their workplace into a brothel. Keaton was born in Corapolis, Pennsylvania, got his first acting credits for Mister Roger’s Neighborhood (1974-1975), and his first film role in Rabbit Test (1978 comedy with Billy Crystal). He was perhaps best known for playing the title characters in Beetlejuice (1988 comedy fantasy with Alec Baldwin), Batman (1989 action with Jack Nicholson), and Batman Returns (1992 action with Michelle Pfeiffer), all three directed by Tim Burton, but he has also had a string of hits lately in Spider-Man: Homecoming (as the Vulture), The Founder (2016 drama about the beginnings of McDonald’s), Spotlight (2015 drama that won the Best Motion Picture Oscar), and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), his 2014 drama that got him an Oscar nomination for Best Lead Actor (and also won Best Picture, 3 others, and another 4 nominations). With his earlier career highlights in comedy, before moving into thrillers, action, and drama, Keaton (his original last name is Douglas but changed it to avoid confusion), has range, the energy to explore each genre, and the success to allow it to happen. Michael also appeared in Much Ado About Nothing (1993 Shakespeare adapted by and starring Kenneth Branagh), The Paper (1994 comedy with Glenn Close), Multiplicity (1996 rom-com with And MacDowell), Jackie Brown (1997 crime written and directed by Quentin Tarantino), Desperate Measures (1998 thriller with Andy Garcia), The Other Guys (2010 action comedy with Mark Wahlberg), RoboCop (2014 sci-fi with Joel Kinnaman), and Need for Speed (2014 action with Aaron Paul). Keaton has also provided voices for the animated Cars (2006 action with Owen Wilson), Toy Story 3 (2010 comedy with Tom Hanks), and Minions (2015 action with Sandra Bullock). This month Keaton appears in American Assassin (action with Dylan O’Brien) and is currently filming Dumbo (2019 Disney live action, reuniting him with director Tim Burton).

Night Shift

1982, 14A, 1h 46m

Distributor – Warner Bros.

Budget / Worldwide Box Office (in millions) – $? / $21

Night Shift is a comedy about a somewhat dull morgue attendant (Henry Winkler) whose life gets turned upside down when a new attendant (Michael Keaton) joins and they soon find themselves becoming pimps. Filmed in New York (including a fly over during the end credits), this eighties comedy has plenty of saxophone in the soundtrack (which also contains a Rod Stewart song and more, all with lyrics by Burt Bacharach), lots of laughs at the expense of Winkler and also from the mouth of Keaton. They play their roles off each other, providing contrast and humour, and the film includes an amount of heart too that ties up the plot nicely. When you can get a laugh right after a character is killed, you know the comedy will work when things really get going, and the film managers to cover a lot of ground in 106 minutes. Director Ron Howard previously made a few tv movies such as The Time Crystal (1981 adventure involving time travel) and Skyward (1980 drama staring Bette Davis as a flight instructor), and followed up Night Shift with Splash (1984 rom-com with Tom Hanks), Cocoon (1985 sci-fi with Wilford Brimley), and Gung Ho (1986 comedy again with Michael Keaton). This movie is his first with his frequent producing collaborator Brian Grazer, and was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel who had written some episodes for Happy Days which starred both Ron Howard and Henry Winkler. Winkler previously appeared as Arthur Fonzarelli in multiple productions, An American Christmas Carol (1979 fantasy), and followed up with voicing in tv movies until appearing in one, Absolute Strangers (1991 medical drama). The film also stars Shelley Long (Caveman, 1981 comedy with Ringo Starr, and Cheers, 1982-1993 comedy series), Kevin Costner (in a brief scene as a frat boy, his second credit ever) and Shannen Doherty (in a Girl Scout like role).