Married engineer in Los Angeles, stuck in a rut and unable to sleep at night, gets mixed up with a kooky girl willingly being used as a courier for a jewel smuggler; she's got the six priceless emeralds hidden in a jacket, and now the couple is being chased all over the city by international villains. Lively comedy-thriller from director John Landis, who has filled many of the supporting roles with his filmmaker friends (and given himself a plum part as well); nevertheless, his movie loses its bearings whenever it becomes too realistically violent, although leads Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer turn out to be an affable romantic match. The picture is disarming and entertaining most of the way, with Irene Papas giving a magnetic performance as the couple's 'drop', a no-nonsense descendant of Iranian royalty. Pretty funny once you get the idea, however Ron Koslow's screenplay has elements that fail to cohere, such as Goldblum's boring job and unfaithful wife. Making a guest appearance, filmmaker Jonathan Demme, whose "Married to the Mob" in 1988 also starred Pfeiffer, ultimately delivered his own funny/violent movie very similar in tone to this one. **1/2 from ****

Released the same year as Martin Scorseses' "After Hours", John Landis's "Into the Night" similarly takes an ordinary man, in this case Ed Okin (Jeff Goldblum), and plunges him into a never ending series of incidents and adventures through the wee hours of the morning. Ed isn't too happy with his lot in life: he has a boring job as an aerospace engineer, he can't sleep at nights, and his wife is cheating on him. One night, he drives to the airport where his presence is fortuitous: he's able to save the life of Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer), a young beauty being pursued by bumbling Iranian baddies.In a refreshing change of pace, Diana is no innocent, but rather bought trouble for herself by agreeing to be part of a scheme. Still, she's appealing - and beautiful - enough that Ed feels compelled to continue helping her, even as he realizes that he's in way over his head.Both Goldblum and Pfeiffer are very engaging in the leads, and they're well supported by the wonderful Richard Farnsworth, Irene Papas, and Kathryn Harrold. However, as is Landis's habit, a large part of the appeal is seeing him cast *many* of his directing peers in quick cameos. The list includes David Cronenberg, Richard Franklin, Colin Higgins, Daniel Petrie, Paul Mazursky, Don Siegel, Jonathan Lynn, Paul Bartel, Jack Arnold, Lawrence Kasdan, Jonathan Demme, Amy Heckerling, and Carl Gottlieb. But the cameos don't end there, as you'll also spot people like Vera Miles, Clu Gulager, Dan Aykroyd, Carl Perkins, David Bowie, Bruce McGill, Michelles' younger sister Dedee, Jake Steinfeld, and Rick Baker. Roger Vadim is particularly fun as a smooth French villain."Into the Night" isn't necessarily a funny movie, per se, but as was said, it's somewhat amusing in a rather dark way. There's one death scene that's pretty sobering. It would seem to be a rather unwieldy movie at one hour and 55 minutes, but it manages to be entertaining from scene to scene, and thankfully, Ron Koslows' script refrains from being too predictable. Ira Newborn composed the music score, with a strong assist from blues master B.B. King.This seems to be a somewhat overlooked item on Landis's resume, so it's worthy of another look for buffs. Certainly those cameos alone rate this as a must see.Eight out of 10.

Jeff Goldblum plays a man with a boring job, a cheating wife, and insomnia. One night beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer enters his life on the run from trouble of her own. The two have a wild night ahead of them as they run from irate Iranians. That makes more sense than it sounds, trust me. Lots of cameos from directors such as David Cronenberg, Jonathan Demme, and Don Siegel. Also a fun cameo by David Bowie. Goldblum and Pfeiffer are great. A solid comedy from John Landis; good escapist fun. Great soundtrack including the title song from B.B. King. Also worth checking out for a very rare (but brief) Pfeiffer nude scene.

(Credit IMDb) Ed Okin's life is somewhat out of control. He can't sleep, his wife betrays him and his job is dull. One night he starts to drive through Los Angeles and he finally ends in the parking garage of L.A. Airport. Moments later a beautiful young lady jumps onto his bonnet and he finds himself being chased by four Iranians. What follows is a wild chase through the streets of Los AngelesI saw this a few months back. I found it to be very enjoyable, filled with great cameos, and a perfect balance of action & humor. I'm not sure if casual viewers will get as much out of this as I did, but for movie buffs, it is a real treat. Jeff Goldblum is both funny and entertaining as the lead. Michelle Pfieffer's mysterious part always had me glued to the screen. Her beauty is out of this world. Goldblum's chemistry with Pfieffer is one of the main reasons this movie works so well. Dan Aykroyd also has a part as Goldblum's friend. Overall, check it out! It is a really fun movie7.5/10