Brothers Josh and Benny Safdie garnered a lot of attention with Good Time (which, contrary to popular belief, wasn't their directorial debut; Daddy Longlegs was). It told the story of Connie and Nick Nikas, who robbed a bank and attempted to go on the run. Nick was arrested and sent to Rikers, causing Connie to panic because she knew the inmates or his developmental disability would get the best of her brother and he wouldn't survive the ordeal.
While trying to secure bail with the money not tainted by the dye pack, Nick was hospitalized, prompting Connie to break him out of the hospital. Because she was looking for a bandaged guy, she accidentally "rescued" a guy named Ray. She should have sent Ray back to the hospital immediately, but the promise of getting a cut of his stolen money motivated Connie to go on a wild ride through New York City. That film was released in 2017; It featured a British actor playing an American whose brother had some form of cognitive impairment; the plot to get a large sum of money unfolded in a single night; and it featured Jennifer Jason Leigh in the cast. Now, I'm going to talk about the 2021 film adaptation of Willy Vlautin's novel (please save the date), "The Night Always Comes."
Director: Benjamin Caron
Writers: Willy Vlautin, Sarah Conradt
Stars: Vanessa Kirby, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zack Gottsagen
"The Night Always Comes" by Benjamin Caron, written by Sarah Conradt, tells the story of Lynette. She's drowning in student debt. Due to inflation, she's about to lose the house where she lives with her mother, Doreen, and her brother, Kenny, who has a developmental disability. And, to top it all off, Doreen has squandered the money intended for a down payment on a new Mazda. David, the landlord, gives Lynette 24 hours to come up with the money she needs to get the mortgage or say goodbye to her house and Kenny, because Social Services will take him away if Lynette doesn't have permanent residency. So, she embarks on a nocturnal odyssey through Portland's urban landscape to get the money. She steals, encounters suspicious individuals, and, when dawn breaks, she realizes that everything she does will probably be for nothing. Lynette is played by Vanessa Kirby, a British actress. The cast not only includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, but also another actress who has worked with the Safdie brothers, Julia Fox. Lynette's brother has cognitive impairment. Money, drugs, sex, and a stolen car are all involved. I'm not saying Good Time is the chicken and the egg of Vlautin's novel, but I'm not ruling it out either.
Aside from the derivative nature of Night Always Comes, the themes it attempts to address seemed a bit vague to me. The themes themselves—starting with student loans, inflation, rent, sexual exploitation, and the lack of class solidarity due to capitalism—seem relevant; there's no doubt about that. But I think they've been addressed much better in other projects, such as Parasite. Here, the exploration of poverty, the despair that arises from it, and how a general decline in empathy leads to so many man-made horrors is very superficial, largely because the characters seem to just be going along with the flow.
Conversations about the problems they face come across as superficial rather than offering us insight into how their souls are being corroded by the times they live in. The narrative has all the elements to emotionally involve you in the protagonist's journey, but there's nothing that truly moves you. Yes, you can say that this is because I, as a viewer, have become too desensitized and therefore don't identify with Lynette's plight.
However, as someone who was thrilled to see a pregnant Vanessa Kirby being chased by a silver alien on a surfboard, I don't think my capacity for compassion is what's being called into question in this scenario. While I can't prove that Night Always Comes was inspired by Good Time narratively, I'll go out on a limb and say that Benjamin Caron tried his hardest to replicate Good Time's relentless, tense atmosphere (and failed). I won't spoil the Safdie brothers' film for you in case you haven't seen it, but there's a moment in the film where the anxiety levels reach such a level that it made me want to throw up. There was no gore. There was nothing disgusting on screen. It was pure, unbridled stress seeping through the screen, into my body, and making me feel sick. Caron's film has a scene where Lynette literally vomits after a brutal altercation with a thug, followed by a nice escape sequence, but it has no impact whatsoever. Technically, when Lynette vomits her guts out, it's supposed to have a similar, visceral reaction, but it simply doesn't happen.
As for the performances, the standout is Stephan James. Jennifer Jason Leigh, despite her limited screen time, nails her character's irritating nature. The same can be said for Randall Park. Zack Gottsagen isn't in the spotlight enough, despite being the film's lifeblood. Surprisingly, Vanessa Kirby is the weakest link. The most glaring problem is her accent; it's as if she doesn't even try not to sound British. I don't think her appearance is entirely her fault—because there are makeup artists and costume designers involved—but she always seems too posh to be from Portland, of all places.
I mean, just look at what Robert Pattinson did to become Connie. If Kirby and everyone associated with the film had emulated even a fraction of that commitment to the craft, I would have given it a positive rating, I swear. Right now, I can't recommend watching "Night Always Comes." If it's not clear to you by now, you should definitely watch Good Time. Afterward, if you're in the mood for more movies where the protagonist goes from bad to worse in one night, I recommend After Hours, Locke, Victoria, and Collateral. You'll thank me later.
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