I was up late again, which is normal for me, when I came across a movie just starting. I left it on and became interested in the movie right from the start. I hadn’t heard of the movie before, but The Morning After turned out to be fairly good. It was one of the better movies I have seen late at night recently.

CAST

Jane Fonda - Alex Sternbergen
Jeff Bridges - Turner Kendall
Raul Julia - Joaquin Manero (Jackie)
Richard Foronjy - Sergeant Greenbaum


Sidney Lumet - Director

James Hicks - Writer

The Morning After was made in 1986 and rated R. I saw it on television, so it had been edited. Some nudity may have been edited out, along with some swearing. I could tell that some swearing was removed, which made some of the lines sound a bit silly. The movie was 103 minutes long. There was some violence and blood in the movie. No children should see this movie.

PLOT

A woman, Alex Sternbergen, woke up with a hang over. She was in bed with a man. Alex then noticed that there was blood in the bed and a knife was in the chest of the man. She headed into the kitchen where she got a drink before running into the bathroom to get sick. She couldn’t remember who the man was or what had happened the night before. She didn’t think she had killed him, but she wasn’t sure. She called Jackie, telling him about the dead man and asking what she should do. Jackie told her to call the cops, but she didn’t do that. Instead she headed home and started to pack.

Alex headed to the airport where she tried to catch a plane. I don’t remember where she wanted to go, but all the flights were booked. When she was leaving the airport, she got into a minor accident with two other cars. One of the drivers was going to call the police, and Alex took off running. She came across a man working on an old convertible and jumped in. The man, Turner Kendall, gave Alex a ride. He was talking about himself a bit, but Alex wasn’t saying much. She had him drop her off near the dead man’s building instead of in front of it.

Alex went back into the dead man’s apartment, got a drink, and started to clean the apartment, lugging her drink around with the bucket and sponge. She scrubbed down everything she touched or may have touched when she was there before. She cleaned up all the blood. She even scrubbed the floors. She put several things in the dishwasher, including the phone. Just before she left, she heard a noise from inside the closet. She thought someone was in there. She left the apartment and ran into Turner.

Turner drove her home. She tried to get him to leave, but he ended up staying and fixing them something to eat while she took a shower. They talk and Alex drank a lot. She passed out in the middle of a phone call. Turner straightened up some and then left. The next morning Alex woke up with another hang over. Then she discovered something in her apartment that freaked her out and caused her to run out in her robe. Turner showed up again. She ended up going with him and telling him what was going on - including waking up next to the dead body. She explained how she and her hairdresser Jackie had been married for ten years and separated for ten years. She also shared how she had attacked her first husband with a paring knife.

Alex ended up staying with Turner. He lived in an old building that he had fixed up on the inside. He repaired appliances. He used to be a cop, but he was stabbed by a hooker and the injury interfered with him doing his job so he had to quit. Turner convinced Alex to contact a police officer, Sergeant Greenbaum. She didn’t tell him who she was, but she told him enough to get him interested in investigating. That night Alex and Turner slept together. The next morning, Alex got up first and got drunk. Later that day, she had doubts about Turner and if she could trust him.

Was Alex a murderer? Was she set up by someone else? Could she trust Turner? If you want to find out the answers to those questions, you have to watch the movie.

**End of Plot Discussion**

The Morning After was a pretty good movie. I became interested in what was going on after just a few minutes. I wanted to see how the movie would turn out. I didn’t think any part of the movie was boring. The movie wasn’t really fast or slow paced, but a lot did happen in it. The ending was a little disappointing to me. The resolution was just thrown out there, and there really weren’t many clues in the movie that pointed to how it would be resolved.

The Morning After was a mystery thriller with a touch of romance. Alex woke up with a hang over in bed with a man. She couldn’t remember who he was or what had happened the night before. That was bad enough, but the man was dead. Alex had to try to figure out what happened and clear her name. She didn’t know who to trust, but she did end up telling Turner what was going on. She followed his advice and contacted a police officer that Turner had worked with. She and Turner did a little bit of investigating, trying to figure out what had happened and how Alex ended up in bed with a dead man. I didn’t think that the story lived up to its full potential. The mystery wasn’t as strong as it could have been. There really weren’t any clues indicating what had happened. Right before the mystery is resolved in the movie, one character shared some information they had discovered that did point to someone. That was the only real clue in the whole movie.

Alex woke up with a strange man in bed. This seemed to be a common occurrence for her. She and Turner ended up in bed together about a day and a half after they first met. There did seem to be an attraction between Alex and Turner. Their developing relationship provided the small amount of romance that was in The Mourning After. Some people could be offended by the way Alex seemed to jump into bed with men when she didn’t know they very well. Some people may also be offended by the fact that Alex was still married when she was sleeping with different men. There were some sexual scenes in the movie, but not to many. Not much was shown. There was a little bit of skin shown, but no real nudity. That may be because I watched the movie on televison and it was edited. People who don’t like to watch movies with sex scenes may not want to watch this movie.

There was some violence near the end of The Morning After. The violence wasn’t excessive, but one of the characters did end up bleeding. That scene could be enough to offend some viewers. There was still some blood and violence left in the movie even though it was edited to air on television. When Alex woke up at the beginning of the movie, there was blood all around the bed. The knife was shown sticking out of the dead man’s chest. When Alex returned to the dead man’s apartment to clean it up, the dead body was shown again. His arms were purple then. It was not pleasant to see. Anyone who doesn’t like to see dead bodies, blood, or violence in movies shouldn’t watch this movie.

There was music playing in many scenes in The Morning After. The music was usually scary and creepy sounding. The music really helped to add to the mood of the scenes it was used in. I think the music added some tension at times too because it was scary and creepy sounding. I also think that the music added to the suspense because of how it sounded. When I heard the music, I was waiting to see what would happen next. In a few scenes not much, or nothing at all happened after the suspense was built up.

There were some interesting camera angels used in a few scenes in The Morning After. Near the beginning of the movie, when Alex first left the dead man’s apartment, several long shots were used to show the front of the building and how deserted the streets around the building were. Alex started walking away, and that was shot from above. In some other scenes, the lighting was important. In some scenes when the suspense was built up, it was dark and shadowy, which helped to add to the suspense.

The acting in The Morning After was really good. Jane Fonda was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Alex. I thought she was very believable as a woman whose life was falling apart. I haven’t seen many movies with Jane Fonda, but she has been good in all the movies I have seen her in. Jeff Bridges was very good as Turner. He was also a believable character. Bridges played the character in such a way that you didn’t know if he was really helping Alex or if he shouldn’t be trusted. Raul Julia wasn’t in much of the movie, but he was good in the scenes he did have as Jackie.

Alex was the main character of The Morning After. She was the main focus of the movie. The character of Alex was fairly well developed. She was the most developed character in the movie. Turner was in a lot of the movie since he kept popping up, but he wasn’t as well developed at Alex. The viewer really doesn’t know what he was truly up to and if he could be trusted. Jackie was only in a few scenes, so his character wasn’t that well developed at all.

CHARACTERS

Alex Sternbergen - She was an actress who had a drinking problem. She woke up in bed with a dead man, not knowing who he was or what had happened the night before. She had been a popular actress, but she was no longer getting roles. She had a history of violence because she attacked her first husband with a paring knife. She could be stubborn at times. When she was upset or had a problem, she started to drink. She wasn’t always nice when she was drinking.

Turner Kendall - He was a former cop. He was disabled after being stabbed by a hooker. He drove an old car that he had to constantly work on. He met up with Alex in the airport parking lot after she had a minor accident and ran off. He kept popping up where Alex was. He claimed that he didn’t think she killed the man. He said he wanted to help her.

Jackie - He was Alex’s husband for ten years. They have been separated since just after they got married. He was a hairdresser with a popular salon in L.A. He and Alex were still friends. He told her to go to the police about the dead man.

Sergeant Greenbaum - He was the Police Officer that Turner convinced Alex to contact about the dead man. Greenbaum seemed to be a dedicated cop. He did investigate the murder.

The Morning After was a good movie and I enjoyed it. Some things related to the mystery part of the movie could have been a little better, but the movie is worth watching, especially if you are a fan of one of the actors.



Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age