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3

Night Shift could and should have been sooooo good and yet it’s one of those films that left me thinking of what could have been.

The first half of this is great. The characters are set up and established really well, there are some brilliant one-liners (“He was my Avon lady” and “Something Polish” especially stand out), the chemistry between Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton seems to be there in abundance, and Shelley Long is at her very best as well.

There are a couple of recurring gags that work very well too, and the general family and office life surrounding Winkler are full of comedic possibilities even before Keaton shows up. Winkler could not be any less Fonz-like if…

Review by gregs1999 ★★★½ Liked

Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton made for a really funny pair. Being Keaton’s first starring role, he came out of the gates with full force, and by the end of the decade, became a household name with Beetlejuice and Batman. Very silly premise that works well.

Ron Howard ranked

8

Cinematic Time Capsule
1982 Marathon - Film #78

”This is a morgue… you’re partying in a morgue”

When newly paired odd-couple Michael Keaton find themselves paired up on a morgue’s mellow night shift they stumble upon the perfect side-hustle… “Loooove Brokers!”

Ron Howard’s first major Hollywood directing job is the kind of lighthearted sex comedy that you find yourself rooting for, while at the same time wishing it was just a little bit better.

BONUS POINTS for Michael Keaton, who in his first starring role instantly proves that his massive amounts of charisma and manic high energy were destined to make him one of the most likable stars of the next several decades.

”What’s in here, just stiffs ’n stuff?”

Cinematic Time Capsule - 1982 Ranked

Review by Lebowskidoo 🇨🇦 🎬 🍿 ★★★★½

An early 80's Ron Howard comedy about two morgue attendants who start a successful side gig as pimps. There's a joke to be made here about stiffs, but I'll leave it alone.

Night Shift is set in New York when it still had that 80's scuzz, that element of danger. The movie opens with a murder, which were more commonplace then. It's not a laugh a minute, but cruises by nicely with its gonzo premise and a cast that seem to having a great time.

Henry Winkler is so mellow as Chuck, but that's just what the role requires. Thankfully, Michael Keaton is on hand as Bill, bursting upon the movie scene with enough comedic energy for everybody in Manhattan…

Review by eely 🌙 ★★★½ Liked

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Review by Dallas ★★★

Despite initially looking like it might be an After Hours-ish dark comedy, Night Shift ends up just being a generic 80s comedy. Henry Winkler plays Chuck, the 80s uber-trope of an uptight guy that needs a wild and crazy guy to teach him how to live life to the fullest. 

Michael Keaton’s character Bill is that wild and crazy guy, but he only occasionally shifts from annoying to funny. Chuck is a stiff that works with stiffs on the night shift of a NYC morgue. When the Beetlejuician minus the laughs weirdo Chuck gets hired, he persuades Chuck to run call girls out of the office. Shelley Long plays Belinda, Chuck’s lady of the night love interest, and she manages to bring some charm…

Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★½

it's telling that even a dopey studio buddy comedy directed by Ron Howard was able to capture the grit of dirty old new york in the early 80s; some of this hasn't aged well and Keaton is at his most annoying, but it's full of incredible location footage (and poster cameos by Seka and Annie Sprinkle) and comedies with decent climactic shoot-outs are a rare breed

2

cannot stand this. soulful hooker shelley long, morgue-drawer-fucking clint howard, shots of hotel broslin era 1982 new york & a bacharach disco score that sounds like some crydamoure/le knight club shit are the only good things about this great big piece of crap. henry winkler and michael keaton have never been more annoying or less watchable. fuck ron howard.

2

I am not sure how this movie got on my list, but it was on Hoopla and I watched it. It seemed like one poor idea executed poorly. A couple of (wimpy) bros decide to become pimps. The theme of "That's What Friends Are For" plays throughout the film, but it's clear that Chuck (Henry Winkler) wants to be more than friends with Belinda (Shelley Long). Shelley Long is probably the only reason I am rating this as highly as I am, because the whole film seemed like a misfire to me.

Vegan alert:
-Chuck ordered tuna fish and got egg salad
-Lady asks for eggs and man says he practically has a whole dairy at his place
-Woman makes a joke about the dead turkey for Thanksgiving
-Hat with a feather
-Fur coat

Review by Jordan Beaumont Anderson ★★★★ Liked

Combines my two favorite things: tits and collective bargaining.

But I am concerned by how easily I identify with an ultra-hornt over-stimulated coward-pimp Michael Keaton.

Review by Jonathan White ★★★½ Liked

After just watching After Hours last night, I had a hankering to watch Night Shift, a film I've always associated with After Hours, even though knowing the subject and plot were completely different, at least on the surface. Both share the conceit of a rather timid central protagonist who’s led on to misadventure. It’s been ages, but I ed Night Shift was fluffy and fun, the typical Ron Howard fare.

Happy Days, the wildly popular 1974 sitcom set in the 50’s starring Ron Howard, for those of you under 30 who didn’t watch reruns, that was loosely based on the wildly popular 1973 George Lucas sophomore effort American Graffiti (which starred Howard ), was still in production in 1982. Ron…

4

1982 In Review - July
#23

A mild-mannered morgue attendant is assigned to the night shift, and his new coworker, along with his prostitute neighbor, convince him of running a prostitution ring out of the morgue.

Whatever happened to Henry Winkler? After playing the iconic role of the Fonze for so long you would have expected him to make the move to the movies gracefully, but for whatever reason it didnt happen, maybe he became typecast or was just plain unlucky. I say typecast, but its weird because in this he is anything but, playing the exact opposite of the Fonze.
Here he plays a dweebish, timid very soft kind of guy who gets pushed around by his boss and…