THE MORNING AFTER

Thursday morning lockdown movie. Haven't seen this 1986 Sidney Lumet thriller since its original VHS release. My opinion of the film remains basically the same as it did on that initial watch. It was clearly designed as a showcase for the maturing Jane Fonda, and on that level it succeeds admirably. Fonda is superb, and has a compelling physical screen presence, playing a once-promising Hollywood actress who never quite made it, and is now past her prime and permanently lost in a haze of booze and one night stands. When she wakes up next to the murdered body of a controversial sleaze photographer, with no memory of how he ended up dead, she seeks help from an ex-cop (Jeff Bridges) to determine if she is indeed the killer, or the victim of a set-up. Fonda does enjoy sinking her teeth into the scenery at times, but in a way this falls in line with her character, and her character's profession.

The premise of the film is certainly a familiar one, and sadly the screenplay does little new with it. One of my biggest gripes with the film when I first watched it was the denouement and revelation, and it still strikes me as disappointing and lazy (won't spoil it here for those who have not yet seen it). There's very little genuine chemistry between Fonda and Bridges, though Raul Julia is great to watch as usual (playing the former husband of Fonda's character).

Apart from Fonda's performance (which earned her an Oscar nomination), one of the best things about THE MORNING AFTER is seeing all of the lovely L.A. location footage, in particular the beautiful pink Art Deco apartment block on Sweetzer Ave, which Fonda's character lives in.