Directed By Will Gluck

Starring – Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro, Molly Ringwald

The Plot – Two strangers (Turner, Barbaro) crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalized New York on the one night when single people are allowed to have sex. Recently dumped Owen and hopeful romantic Allie may be the only two singles in the city looking for more than a quick encounter. They both feel a spark when they meet, but a series of missteps and side quests will complicate their night.

Rated R for sexual material, adult language, and brief nudity

One Night Only | Official Trailer

POSITIVES

Despite some premature reservations about an unimpressive trailer that made this movie feel as interchangeably familiar with any of the romantic comedy offerings before it, Will Gluck surprisingly instills a lot of personality in execution, and uniqueness to the concept, that makes for an equally entertaining experience for males and females alike, carving out an undeniable sure thing for date nights between couples seeking a rewarding compromise. For starters, the screenplay from Travis Braun is certainly far from flawless, but it does manage to make the most in articulating the approachability of this one-night-a-year sex allowance, making its setting feel like a super horny version of reality, but beyond that pursues colorfully chaotic ways of exuding some meaningfully complex situations in the physical objective of its protagonists, in turn carving out no shortage of consistently effective gags that go a long way to endearing us to so much unavoidable repetition. Despite Turner and Barbaro being two picture perfect physical specimens, Braun grounds them with the kind of relatability in desperation that parallels their paths down some darkly depraved corridors, and considering the film maintains a built in race against the clock of this consequence-free night, the film manages to maintain the urgency within its narrative, allowing for much of the first half to transpire seamlessly with not only understanding the backgrounds of the unlucky characters, but also the serendipitous force that continuously brings them together. The crafted gags of the script certainly go a long way in hooking an audience, but the capitalized output of Allie’s job as a background singer for pharmaceutical commercials takes our investment to a whole other level, allowing the periodic outpourings of the movie’s soundtrack to lyrically deviate familiar pop anthems with sexualized context that keeps me from ever distinguishing the original versions ever again without thinking about how this movie reuses them. This gimmick could certainly overstay its welcome if its repetition constantly hijacks the movie’s focus, however it’s incorporated distantly in ways that not only remain effective, as a result of the many different songs utilized, but also how they sneak into the background noise of each scene, matching a synth-stirring score from Este Haim and Christopher Stracey that compositionally brought back feelings of John Hughes tones from the golden age of teenage cinema. On top of this, the movie is so undeniably New York that it utilizes every frame of Yaron Orbach’s cinematography to explore the limitless depths of the city’s unmistakable landscapes, offering breathtaking views and scenic splendor in skyscapes that intently breed an affectionately intoxicating canvas to Gluck’s direction. While the New York setting feels more than played out among contemporary romantic comedy cinema, Orbach retexturizes it with luminating lighting and intricate framing that invites every frame to play into the magically enigmatic feeling permeating breathlessly between its thrill-seeking characters, particularly those intimately insightful moments in a third act pizza shop that cements for these characters everything that the audience has effortlessly felt between them throughout the entirety of the film. On that opportunistic transitioning, the chemistry between Turner and Barbaro is undeniably permeating in every interactive frame between them, with each of them evoking an initial playful banter between them that unlocks the doors to their anything-but-sudden realizations about one another, in turn allowing the audience endless chances to fall in love with the spellbinding merit of their affectionately gentle performances. For Turner, this obviously represents the next gradual step in his breakthrough utility work in last year’s Eternity, with much of the same running gags about his remarkable good looks, but backed up here with a sensitively radiant screen presence sampling just enough confident swagger to feel ambitious without arrogance, making him feel like the T-1000 of romantic comedy love interests sent intently to swoon female moviegoers off of their feet and out of their seats. As for Barbaro, her charmingly irresistible turn as Allie opts for the same kind of emotional honesty that sells hers and other past characters unidentifiable actions with the necessary fear and plunging panic, but refreshingly with authentic singing vocals and internalized responses that imprints her limitless talents to the distinguishing of the character. Barbaro capably and comfortably toes the line between playful cuteness and sensual sexiness in ways that haven’t been capably balanced since Sandra Bullock stole our hearts in the 90’s, and while this turn represents a major breakthrough for her into the limelight of leading lady stardom, Monica dazzles doubtlessly, emanating an irresistible charisma that slides her seamlessly into a versatility of complex genres and characters for the next stage of her prosperous career. Beyond levitating work from Turner and Barbaro, the film also has an abundance of clever cameos that seemingly implements a surprise behind every scene, such as one comedic cop duo who blur the line between fantasy and reality, while clueing us into another cunningly creative outlet for the script to flesh out the realities and importance of this one night of unadulterated impulses. The cameos themselves are typically one-and-done, with the exception of romantic comedy queen Molly Ringwald, but they’re all delivered in creatively captivating ways that reward the audience for the extent of their unwavering investment (Such as two familiar faces of Gluck’s past reappearing merely facially in a dating app), and while they’re a small and insignificant part of the grander picture, their inclusion does make the film and its gimmick feel bigger in scope, without anything distracting to the integrity of the scenes that they accompany.

NEGATIVES

While One Night Only is a solid addition to an overstuffed subgenre, the detracting components of Haim and Stracey’s aforementioned creative ambition are nearly its undoing, particularly the surface level exploration of its topical sex-starved gimmick. The problem here isn’t necessarily the ridiculousness of the idea of government infringing on the rights and needs of its citizens, but rather how minimally Haim and Stracey flesh it out with realities that meet audience curiosity at eye level, where more questions about logics and consequences of such an irresponsible action would threaten future populations who don’t exactly abide by the sanctity of marriage. Because the film shoehorns so much of its background exposition into either on-screen text during the movie’s intro, that is about as condensed and concise as a singular sentence can properly muster, and exposition dump interactions that abruptly halt the development of the plot for long-winded diatribes that in most cases come out of nowhere, it keeps the script from fully capitalizing on the extent of such a unique idea, and with so many moviegoers already comparing it feasibly to The Purge franchise, will inevitably leave it suspect to being unfairly generalized as a result of the distinguishments that it fails to flesh out, leaving it simply as a fascinating idea and inconsequential exploration all under the same roof. Another strangely confusing problem that the script has is in its decision to constantly distance our two protagonists in their quest for indulging intimacy, robbing us constantly of the infectious chemistry between them that comprised the entirety of the movie’s most magnetizing moments. While the intention of fate constantly bringing them back together feels clearly evident from even the dialogue’s mention of it, their individualized arcs simply never conjure anything remotely endearing to their compelling banter bouncing off of one another, and considering the script isn’t victimless with regards to sampling so many of the genre-honored tropes that tangibly tie so many of these films together, the repetitious nature of its outline grows to eventually catch up to the engagement during the third act climax, where the systematically required break-up sees them illogically distancing before they abruptly realize what they mean to each other. For my money, the more time spent between them not only fleshes out a growing connection that feels palpable to the engagement’s integrity, but also keeps the film from feeling like it’s playing catch-up during its second half, where it seemingly takes for granted the movie’s most foundation-building component. Finally, even with the comedy attaining a comfortable consistency in designated gags, there’s no denying that the personality of Gluck’s atmosphere feels a bit too contentiously juvenile and raunchy for a charming plot that doesn’t require it, leaving the desperation of his direction objectified by the unnatural impulse to reach so abrasively for a mature rating, in order to make the gags feel limitless. This periodically results in jarring dialogue, obnoxious side characters, or exaggerated situations obscuring the modesty of genuine connection, and while Gluck’s desired memorability is lifted from the most unsubtle of places, it leaves the material feeling counterproductive to the charming appeal of the performances, leaving nearly as many resounding bombs on the consistency of the comedy.

OVERALL
One Night Only might fail to responsibly flesh out the fascinating depths of its authoritarian idea, but Gluck’s snappy tone and the mesmerizing connective chemistry of Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro offers just enough seductive symmetry to sizzle scintillatingly, supplanting a rewarding experience for both sides of the dating dynamic seeking romance and laughter aplenty.

My Grade: 6.5 or C