For anyone who saw the movie I mentioned, The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, this movie will strike a clear resemblance. Sure, it has it's slight alterations to make it a little different and original, but the story itself is quite common. For who it may concern, I truly recommend seeing The Apartment first and then this one. You'll see the common ground on which the story revolves and the similarities that make this movie and the classic one bound. I'll end my review by saying that it's a good movie, in it's own right, very well acted and put together. Make this and the 1960's movie a duplex with your loved one around these holidays. You won't regret it.
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EddieRade21 December 2015
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SnoopyStyle16 April 2017Kevin (Adam Pally) is looking to have a hot drunken one-night stand. Madeline (Rosa Salazar) takes him to a house but he discovers that it's the home of his boss, famed football coach Will Campbell. He calls Peter who informs him that she's Will's mistress. Peter tells him to keep her there until he arrives in the morning. She has taken pills but Peter stops him from calling the ambulance.
This is mostly a two-person play. It's a low budget indie taking place almost entirely in a house. It rely solely on the two actors and their connection with each other. There is a good back and forth, but it never feels unwritten. It probably would serve well to have some music or a traveling montage or an excursion. It starts to feel a bit claustrophobic hanging out in that house for the whole movie. Overall, it's nice work. -
She's great. Her dialog and character has depth and impact, and she does a fantastic job with the physical nature of her role here.
Night Owls isn't a new formula.. it's basically "The Apartment" from 1960 with a modern "Very Bad Things"/"The Overnight" kinda vibe to go along with it.
The lead actor here is also fine, but maybe a bit too obtuse, weak, and perhaps gullible to be a likable character. The other issue I have is his job. The whole sports theme, for me, seemed like a bad idea. I wish they would have made the role of "Will" a white collar financial type or something a bit more of a 'professional' dynamic. For me that whole sub-plot is kinda weakened by making him a college football coach. Even some of the writing there is a little sloppy. Like if he's such a legendary coach with such a flawless track record, then why is he at such a small school. That's a minor quip, but it's more of a dynamic thing, as the film has that high-brow look and feel, and that dynamic just doesn't work for me.
All nitpicking aside. The leads here have some chemistry, and there's some decent laughs(mostly physical comedy). I did feel some emotion and their connection.
The film isn't overlong or fancy. An adult-indie that is pretty fun for the first hour. The ending is a bit predictable but not terrible.
Wouldn't mind seeing Rosa in some bigger roles.
59/100 -
Rabbit-Reviews16 December 2015Night Owls is a good and refreshing flick and if you already have to watch something in this genre, it might as well be the best that the genre has to offer at this time. Very strong slapstick vibe and raunchy jokes will make you forget that at its core Night Owls is a classic romance movie. And this is not a bad thing, it's just there have been so many of them and almost all of them were horrible and generic, made just to milk the audiences for more money. This one takes things in a different direction.
Kevin is one those guys who just work and work, with occasional outburst intended to prove that he's still alive. This time that outburst involves Madeline, a troubled girl who likes Kevin and the two of them spend the night together. Next thing you know Kevin finds Madeline lying unconscious in the toilet...
Another thing that will entertain you is the fact that the movie is happening in almost real-time. This adds more tension to the atmosphere and a deadline that you see coming as the movie progresses, making time go faster and faster. Dynamic relationship between Kevin and Madeline is the core of this movie. They transition very quickly from strangers, friends, lovers, enemies and whole bunch of other stuff, keeping the movie interesting and further examining their relationship. How do you test a hypothesis: you take it to the extreme. This time the setup was a bit extreme, but still well thought out so our characters have lot to deal with, making Night Owls a movie you should check out. -
supersowhat-528413 June 2017The mixture of slapstick humour and seriousness isn't always blended that well. There is some good awkward realism though. The main guy is a beta-male dude who is generally well meaning despite being a bit fearful and judgemental. The girl is - I think - what they call a 'hot mess'. She mixes cynical and righteous anger with goofy wildness.
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zetes11 January 2016A riff on The Apartment that takes place over one night at a single location. Adam Pally goes home with Rose Salazar for a one night stand. As Pally's on the way out the door, he finds a piece of mail sitting on the counter and realizes he's actually at his boss's house. He goes back to confront Salazar and finds that she's attempted to overdose on sleeping pills. He idolizes his boss, a famous college football coach, and wants to prevent a scandal, so with the help of a co-worker (Rob Huebel) and a doctor Huebel knows (Tony Hale), he brings her back to consciousness and is forced to stay with her all night so she doesn't fall back asleep. They then have a long conversation. The film is fairly predictable, but the two leads are both good. Pally is, of course, the reason I watched this. I love him on Happy Endings. He's funny here, and he does well with the dramatic scenes, too. Salazar reminds me a lot of Aubrey Plaza. In the end, the film doesn't amount to much. It doesn't feel like there's really enough material to stretch it out to 90 minutes. It's totally not bad, though.
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rickrudge17 December 2019This is a nice little movie about two people who are both involved with hero worship.
Kevin (Adam Pally) feels so lucky to be picked up by a beautiful young woman, Madeline (Rosa Salazar) at a party. She drives him to a big house where they continue drinking and make love. Afterwards, Kevin wakes up to an empty bed, gets up, and cleans the mess they made in the kitchen. Then he realizes that they were in the house of his boss, the head coach, Will Campbell (Peter Krause). He quickly calls his immediate supervisor, Peter (Rob Huebel) and explains the situation.
Peter explains that the girl is Will's jilted mistress, and on top of that, she has emptied a bottle of sleeping pills. Kevin makes her vomit and spends the rest of the evening keeping her awake. Naturally, they get to know each other better, and they also both get to learn a little more about their selves.
Rosa Salazar is so beautiful. I can't wait to see more movies with her in them. -
wordsorcerer29 July 2016This hackneyed formulaic plot is haltingly over-acted with just a few moments of near-shine. The movie chronicles two happenstance one night standers who talk through an overnight session of every conceivable emotion. The male lead (Adam Pally) seems weak, ineffective, and unconvincing, while his counterpart female lead (Rosa Salazar) acts out her role in a small notch above that. One could use this movie as background noise while looking for something good to watch. Fast-forward to the end and miss nothing. The beginning promises an enjoyable flick, but that is quickly diminished once the actors begin sharing. There is no clue as to why, for example, actors are wearing robes one moment, and clothes the next. The film totters between a sanguine buildup and then a plop on its face, and this happens several times. Writers Seth Goldsmith and Charles Hood's best moments were leaving the end quasi-open, but even that has a hint of predictability. Disappointed in the film - not for night owls.
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marby53-128 August 2016A one night stand with an agenda. Both actors are excellent--combining great physical comedy with characters who are interesting and real.
On the surface this is a movie about jealousy and revenge but within that shell we get to know two people who fall into the category of those that get used and one character, who is not present until the last scene, who is a master at using.
As soon as I saw this i started looking for other films with Rosa Salazar. This is the only thing I found that showcases her substantial acting chops.
If I'm fair Adam Pally is just as good as Salazar but being a guy I was slightly more captivated by her.
If you can enjoy a movie without guns, super heroes or car chases you should check this out. You don't have to be a hopeless romantic but it would probably help. -
meeza25 July 2016This boy in the hood named Charles Hood co-scripted and directed the independent rom-com (sort of speak) "Night Owls", and Owl tell you one thing, it wasn't very Hood, I mean good. The movie stars Adam Pally as Kevin, a video assistant for a College Football program. At a college football function, Kevin meets the floozy Madeline, and she ends up taking him to what he thinks is her house; Madeline is played by Latina actress Rosa Salazar. Kevin is bewildered when he finds out that Madeline has taken him to his boss' house, who is the Head Football Coach at the University. Why the connection? Well, why go on. Cause this plot had plenty of fumbles and its turnovers were not creative at all. Sorry Hoodie! Pally want an acting class! Well, he should, because Adam Pally's performance as Kevin was profoundly overacted. Now, I must say what saved "Night Owls" from disaster was the charismatic performance from Salazar as Madeline. But I still think the "Night Owls" will most likely put you to sleep. *** Average
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jtncsmistad19 September 2016"Night Owls" is almost entirely a two-character play acted out (by Adam Pally and Rosa Salazar) over some ninety screen minutes in and around a millionaire's home while the rich guy and his family aren't around. I won't give away the details of this peculiar scenario. I will say, however, that this is one of the most blatant examples I have ever seen of a script and story orchestrated (and poorly at that) to manipulate an unlikely romantic partnering and then to inspire the audience to give a crap about the principles involved.
Gotta say to ya Director/Writer Charles Hood and co-author Seth Goldsmith, with what you've attempted to manufacture in "Owls" you guys have given us two spectacularly sad people and then expected that we as an audience would root for them to get together. And then what? Become a spectacularly sad couple?
I was just never moved to care at all. Or, more fittingly, "give a hoot". -
davidjanuzbrown25 December 2015I never saw The Apartmentthis movie is compared to, but this is a good movie. Rosa Salizar is beautiful. And I could watch her any day. Madeline ( Salizar) is a train wreck of a woman and Kevin ( Adam Pally) is a workaholic. Both are used by his boss (and her three year lover Will). What you see is two people who really do not like themselves. She tried to kill herself with pills and he tried years earlier by crashing a SAAB into a tree. Spoilers ahead: it is a very ambiguous ending where Kevin finds out from a Coach named Peter that something bad will happen to Madeline ( I suspect they will try and get her locked in. Mental Institution), and walks away from a Coaching position with Will and Madeline goes after him and asked him if he wants a ride and you do not know what direction he will choose. That said, I think he will walk away and she will go with him. Why? He learned from her that he was a coward clinging on to Will hoping to find the level of success he should have had ( he was High School Valvictorian). In her case she knows Will is no good, and her only hope is to go with him. Does this mean a "Happily Ever After" ending? Maybe Maybe not. But they need each other. Especially when it comes to the Will's of the World who has no respect for either ( he thinks Kevin will come back and Madeline will do whatever he wants). Life with Madeline will not be easy, she is bad tempered and yes, violent, but she is exactly what he needs ( some one to give him the swift kick he needs), and she needs Kevin someone who can keep her grounded: 9/10 stars.
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deloudelouvain11 September 2020I wasn't impressed by Night Owls to be honest. I yawned more than once during the movie. It was just not that entertaining, with only two characters and one location you need a good story to keep the attention of the audience and in this case it was just not there. The writing wasn't that good which resulted in some wooden performances from Adam Pally and Rosa Salazar. I'm sure they can do better. In Night Owls their attempt to be funny looked forced at times, hence the lame dialogues. I wrote this review the next day and I already had forgotten everything about this movie since then, not a positive thing if you ask me.
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mzand-751-53957227 August 2019Normally not a fan of indie films. They're slow, ponderous, self-indulgent and artsy with really annoying piano or guitar scores. But every now and then a masterful one shows up. Night Owls is one of them. The director, Charles Hood is clearly a student of the classic "well made" films of the old masters. In this case, that old master is Billy Wilder and Night Owls is an updated tribute to one of Wilder's best ones, "The Apartment." Funny, poignant with absolutely terrific acting, this little indie is a definite must-see.
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dware86-14 January 2017Not a Hollywood explosion-type of film, if you want that, go else-where. This film was a surprise, the log-line caught us enough to stick it on one evening - last night, with no expectations.
Right off-the-bat the situation isn't quite right, which piqued curiosity and draws you in. As it progresses quite quickly the characters become more and more engaging, more and more real, very well acted by the two relative unknowns, absolutely understanding the depth and identity of the characters they portray.
From a writing and directing standpoint, these guys absolutely nailed the complexity of people, and managed to do a 'one-location film' completely believably without drawing attention to that fact, brilliant and smart filmmaking.
This is a very entertaining and refreshingly different relationship film, and thank god for it, absolute praise from me, they know what they're doing. -
hexroy19 September 2018Saw the reviews for this title, and figured it was worth a shot. Seemed like most people really enjoyed it, but I have to wonder what movie they were watching or how authentic all these positive reviews are. This is a very, very lo-fi / micro budget movie with somewhat charming writing, but that's about it. The cast gives it their best, but with only two real characters and literally one location for the entire movie, you quickly realize this is a premise movie that allowed the filmmakers the ability to make a movie for nothing and not much else.
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I see some folks comparing it to The Apartment and there are many movies that have the core basic premise behind it. No matter.
This movie to me was about relationships and people finding out what they want in life. The actors did a great job doing that and loved the interactions taking place. I even love the ending which I won't spoil here.
No doubt things like this have happened before and might be going on today as well.
If you like movies about adult relationships, see it. -
trudyjessup23 July 2017Met Salazar a few years back so checked out the reviews for this film, and seemed overall positive and worth a try. After watching this mess though, I have to believe that all the "rave" reviews must be from friends and family of the people involved in the film, or from the people themselves. I can't imagine anyone being blown away by this one. It's watchable, but not very good.
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random-7077812 February 2020This film was cringeworthy. The acting was stunningly bad, the script dialogue laughable, and the plot just so full of holes as to be an insult to any life for with more than two functioning brain cells. sure a physician is going to insist someone caring for a person with an obvious near fatal barbiturate overdose not take them to the hospital and just "keep them awake."
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joshlarson-6041521 May 2017Saw this for free on Netflix and want my money back. After twenty minutes, I wanted to turn it off, but thought it has to get better. After another twenty minutes, I almost fell asleep, but thought there must be something coming. Another 20 minutes later, nothing had come. Another twenty minutes later, I hated myself for not bailing after the first twenty minutes.
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It takes a special group of talent to come together and say hey let's rip-off a classic film "The Apartment" and do it so painstakingly bad. Gotta give credit to the filmmakers for having the guts to try to rip off a classic with clearly absolutely no budget, but haven't seen a more boring rethinking of a classic since Gus Van Sant's Psycho.
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johncoggins19 August 2017Disappointingly sloppy execution, really overshadows some decent performances in this low budget rom-com. Pally and Salazar display some decent chemistry despite predictable writing and stiff dialogue. Nonetheless, the movie just falls apart and doesn't deliver any punch. It's kind of a like a retro throwback to a 90's sitcom comedy or something.
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movieflixter13 May 2017This movie was recommended by a friend who knows I love Adam Pally, but despite a decent performance by Pally, I could barely get through this paint by numbers comedy. Typical formula with no surprises and when the movie tries to get serious it just jumps into melodrama. Some decent chemistry every now and then between Pally and his female lead, but overall nothing new to see here. Wouldn't recommend.