Charles "Chuck" Lumley, formerly a successful stockbroker, has found a refuge from the ulcer-inducing Wall Streetrat race in his job as an attendant at a New York City morgue. His displeasure at being "promoted" to night-shift supervisor to make room for his boss' nephew, Leonard, is exacerbated by the irrational exuberance of Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski, his new co-worker. They are inspired by the plight of Chuck's prostitute neighbor, Belinda, to apply Chuck's financial acumen and Bill's entrepreneurial spirit to open a prostitution service headquartered at the morgue.
Chuck falls in love with Belinda, but their relationship becomes complicated when Belinda refuses to quit prostitution. Chuck's passiveness keeps him from telling Belinda he loves her. Meanwhile, Chuck and Bill's foray into the prostitution business draws the ire of dangerous pimps who come to the morgue and threaten to kill Chuck. Bill inadvertently leads two undercover police officers to the morgue where Chuck is being assaulted by the pimps. A shootout ensues. Chuck and Bill are rescued, but are arrested for promoting prostitution. Because their arrest would be a political embarrassment, the two men are offered their old jobs back and a dismissal of all charges. Chuck accepts this, but Bill sees it as an opportunity to bargain with the mayor's office. Chuck and Bill fight and part ways. Chuck's fiancée Charlotte ends their engagement.
Chuck sees Belinda in the hall of their apartment complex, but again fails to express his true feelings for her. Belinda leaves, and Chuck becomes angry with himself for being afraid. With renewed determination, Chuck finds Belinda working in an adult club and professes his love for her. He also finds Bill is employed there, apologizes for his harsh words, and assures Bill of the value of his creative ideas. The three leave the club together and go out on the town.
The official soundtrack was released in 1982 on the Warner Bros. label, It included ten selected tracks from the film, six of which were written specifically for the film:
"That's What Friends Are For (Night Shift Love Theme) (instrumental)" by Burt Bacharach
The soundtrack was released solely on vinyl and cassette. The versions of "Talk Talk" and "Penthouse and Pavement" that are on the soundtrack are different from any other releases of the songs as they were specially mixed for the soundtrack.
Night Shift grossed $21,095,638 million at the domestic box office.[11]
Critical reception
Night Shift received mostly positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Night Shift bristles with pitch-perfect laughs thanks to Ron Howard's snappy direction and a side-splitting turn from Michael Keaton."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13] Many reviewers praised the performances of the two male leads, particularly Michael Keaton.
TV Guide's Movie Guide wrote that "Winkler turns in the best performance of his career, and Keaton is wonderful."[14] The Chicago Reader'sJonathan Rosenbaum compared Night Shift to the subsequent comedy film Risky Business (which also dealt with the theme of prostitution), noting that Night Shift is not "as snappily directed or as caustically conceived, ... but it's arguably just as sexy and almost as funny."[15] Janet Maslin of The New York Times, however, deemed Night Shift "a halfway funny movie, one that's got loads of good gags in its first half and nothing but trouble in its second."[16]Gene Siskel, writing in the Chicago Tribune, gave the film two stars out of four but hailed Keaton's "superb comic performance", writing that "based on this one role, I would now pay to see Keaton in just about anything. Anything except Night Shift."[17]
^"Vincent Schiavelli Cuckoo's Nest character actor with unforgettable features" by Alison Kerr, The Herald (29 Dec, 2005) [Final Edition] Retrieved from ProQuest332958187
^"Film Notes: Fleischer tunes up his 'Toony' voice for Roger Rabbit" by Lawrence Van Gelder, The Globe and Mail (1 July, 1988) Retrieved from ProQuest386002204
