In contention for one of the dumbest titles of the year. "After Dark, My Sweet," which has absolutely nothing to do with the plot and which sounds like a Zucker brothers parody, a combination of "Wait Until Dark" and "Murder, My Sweet." Actually it's considerably better than that. I didn't mind the narration by a dead man. That's an established convention by now, shocking though it may have been in 1950's "Sunset Boulevard." The story has Jason Patric, who doesn't seem to know how to spell his last name, as a washed-up ex boxer, working from place to place as a handyman, until he winds up at the desert spread of widow Rachel Ward, who welcomes him with open arms except that they don't quite open. Through her, he meets a dodgy old character, Bruce Dern.Ward and Dern have cooked up a kidnapping scheme. They'll nab the little boy of a rich family, secrete him in Ward's house, and collect a king's ransom before returning him. But, as usual in these schemes, the center cannot hold, things fall apart. Everybody appears to be on the verge of double crossing everybody else. There's an automatic pistol that changes hands. To make things more complicated, the kid is a diabetic.The cute little sick boy is played by James Cotton. He's a sweet kid. He only says a few lines, and doesn't complain even when he's going into shock. This is in strict contrast to my own boy who, at that age, would never shut up. I had to beat him senseless to keep him quiet, but it worked. He hasn't spoken to me in twenty years but I understand his mime act is widely celebrated in Europe.Jason Patric does pretty well by the role of the slouching, disheveled, not-quite-all-there patsy, taciturn and suspicious. Rachel Ward gives a highly animated performance that contrasts nicely with Patric's reticence. Bruce Dern toggles between astonishment and supreme confidence.Best performance: George Dickerson as the well-meaning but meddling Doctor Goldberg, a paragon of probity. His expression bleeds with bourgeois concern. He NEEDS to help you. He was equally believable in an evil role in "The Parallax View." I found the story itself confusing. I don't know why the guy was who put a hole through Bruce Dern, or why. I still don't know what was going on in Rachel Ward's mind. And Patric himself is an enigma, despite the philosophical mutterings.Yet the film is involving. There's a scene in which Patric, dressed in rags, tumbles off the back of a truck he's been riding on, lights on the lavender sand of a bleak desert at twilight, and breaks the bottle of wine he has stashed in his jacket. He stumbles to his feet and listens to the silent wasteland. It's the kind of desperation I've been trying to avoid all my life.

This film is in the Film Noir Encyclopedia under neo-noir, but all of the other films I've seen so far in that category are much better than this one. I'm not sure if it's the fault of the original material or the screenplay or the director or the actor Jason Patric, but the lead character is not at all engaging and his apparent mental problem that disappears partway through is confusing. The femme fatale was interesting in the beginning as she was spinning her web, but then she got soft and mushy and the inconsistency was a let-down. The ending is the only good thing about the film. The ending explains why the Jason Patric character has been acting so strangely but the last 5 minutes could not change my opinion that the film is a waste of time. There are so many better films to see...

I saw this film during the 1990's and I was really disappointed. It seemed to go on forever and the main storyline, about the kidnapping, was just a backdrop for dull characters who never stop talking and their boring, ill-chosen lives. It has to do with an washed-up ex-boxer who escapes form a mental hospital and drifts into a kidnapping plot for quick cash which goes awry. After that happens, we wait for something interesting to happen. Very little does and nearly all of it is dull. The action is virtually non-existent and the murders are devoid of suspense. The film began well enough and the locations are very well chosen and photographed. But very little was done with them. The acting is passable, but that's all. I have no desire to see this movie again.

Ex-boxer turned drifter, Kid Collins (Patric), wafts his way into the life of a con-man and a drunk. Wanting to stay below the radar, Collins takes refuge with a woman that trades shelter for work. The death of her husband has plummeted her into a world of alcohol and rage. As Collins begins to build a relationship with her, she shares with him details of a kidnapping plan that her and her 'Uncle' have been working on. Thinking that Collins is nothing more than a mental lackey, they persuade him to help with the diabolical plan. Little do they know that the monsters struggling inside Collins' mind are about to be unleashed onto the world. As the plan begins to disintegrate before their eyes, loyalties are lost, and nobody can be trusted.What an amazing find! When I began watching this film I was not expecting to be so surprised. Jason Patric is spectacular in this film and demonstrates powerfully his ability to control and maintain a troubled character. I never once felt that he had stepped out of character during this performance. This is due in part to the exceptional direction by James Foley that creates a story so imaginative and real that you begin to feel as if this could be a town next to yours. Foley gives us flawed characters that take away that image of perfection and helps build deeper emotional ties. Foley also never gives anything away. Throughout this entire film, I never knew what was going to happen next. This is surprising for a Hollywood notorious for 'jumping the gun'. Patric's performance with Foley's direction coupled with a completely terrifying secondary characters (like Bruce Dern and Rachel Ward), After Dark My Sweet is a true diamond in the rough.Grade: ***** out of *****