Paramount+ At Midnight (2023)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: At Midnight (2023)

Tagline: It's only a matter of time.

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Director: Jonah Feingold

Cast: Monica Barbaro, Diego Boneta, Anders Holm, Casey Thomas Brown, Catherine Cohen, Fernando Carsa, Whitney Cummings, Maya Zapata

Release: 2023-02-10

Runtime: 99

Plot: Ambitious hotel manager Alejandro and movie star Sophie meet when fate strikes when the shoot brings them all to Alejandro's hotel in Mexico. Despite their radically different lives, Alejandro and Sophie begin to secretly meet at midnight...

 

[Jake Lipson]

I put on After Midnigh because of the stars. Monica Barbaro was so good as Phoenix in Top Gun: Maverick and I was curious to see her in a leading capacity here. I don't think I've seen Diego Boneta in anything since Rock of Ages, which I loved despite the overall negative response.

For context, I really like a good romantic comedy when it is well-written and compelling. Unfortunately, the screenplay for After Midnight leaves a lot to be desired. I knew this while I was watching it.

And yet I found it to be very charming, especially when Monica Barbaro and Diego Boneta are on screen together. The material around them has flaws, but they have a genuine spark and made this enjoyable to watch.

I hope Barbaro's career gets a big boost after the success of Maverick. She proves here that she can anchor a movie and I look forward to seeing what she does next, especially with better material.

Has anyone else watched this yet?

 

[SamT]

It's a while I want to ask this. This looks like a cheap TV production. What has happened to high profile, high production value rom coms? It seems they don't make them anymore. It's been a while I'm trying to find a good rom com like in the past and I can't find one. Is it the money? Everything is either drama or action, the high production value ones.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This looks like a cheap TV production

My understanding is that At Midnight was made specifically for Paramount+. I don't know what the budget was, but it looks quite nice for what it is. There is some very appealing scenery of Mexico. The issues that I have with this movie are in the screenplay and not really with how it looks. The two stars are really good and they are able to elevate the material.

Is it the money?[

This is a big question to put at the feet of this particular movie, and I'm sure it is a complicated thing. But yes. Every once in a while you get a big breakout hit (Crazy Rich Asians made $237 million back in 2018) but generally it seems like most audiences are okay with seeing these types of movies at home, so that's where they tend to go. Last year, Paramount had a hit with The Lost City, which is definitely a romantic comedy, but also includes action/adventure elements.

I'm trying to find a good rom com like in the past and I can't find one.

Juliet, Naked and The Big Sick are among my favorite films of the last several years and I would highly recommend both of them. Juliet, Naked had a nominal theatrical release around the same time that Crazy Rich Asians was exploding and it wasn't marketed terribly well. The fact that the title sounds like a porn movie probably didn't help either (even though it isn't one.) The Big Sick was Oscar nominated for its screenplay. Neither of these are expensive, but they're both great.