Heart of Midnight (1988)

As mentioned to the right I have "a little list" (ha!) of films that I would like to view and this was one of them.  The only problem is that I can't always recall what it is that I read or heard that made me list the title in the first place.  Since the star here, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is an actress about whom I have very mixed feelings, it must have been the artsy-craftsy horror/sex theme that piqued my curiosity.  As for Miss Leigh, I acknowledge that she is a very able actress, but at times her performances are so mannered that they completely put me off enjoying the rest of the movie; "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "Kansas City" are good instances of this.

In this film, however, her performance is more naturalistic, even if the storyline is not.  She plays a young and troubled woman with a history of mental problems who inherits a nearly derelict nightclub in a tacky part of town from a late uncle whom she can barely remember.  Anyhow, determined to get away from her overbearing mother, Brenda Vaccaro, she moves to the club and oversees its renovation with the intention of re-opening the dump.  Here's where things begin to go seriously weird as she is nearly raped by the workmen and discovers hidden rooms which suggest that the place was previously the haunt of sex fantasists.  At times one is uncertain whether what one is seeing is reality and accurate recollection (like how her uncle probably abused her when she was young) and what is a figment of her somewhat flaky mind.  She is befriended by Peter Coyote (always playing weirdies) and one wonders about his actual agenda and the shadowy backstory of the sister whom he claims to have lost to the perverted uncle.  Where the tale goes from there becomes more and more creepy and by the quite charming ending one no longer knows whether one is seeing a happy future or a bout of wishful demented thought.  There are a number of familiar faces in early roles amongst the cast, in particular I noted Steve Buscemi as one of the lecherous workmen, but I could have done without Rocky-Rambo's brother Frank as a laid back and useless cop.