Certificate: 15 (strong language). Running Time: 100 mins. UK Distributor: Paramount+
WHO’S IN IT?
Diego Boneta, Monica Barbaro, Anders Holm, Casey Thomas Brown, Catherine Cohen, Fernando Carsa, Whitney Cummings, Maya Zapata, Sara Sampaio, Dazelle Yvette, Victor Oliveira
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Jonah Feingold (director, writer), Maria Hinojos and Giovanni M. Porta (writers), Fred Berger, David Bernon, Diego Boneta, Josh Glick, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Eréndira Núñez Larios (producers), Grant Fonda (composer), Chuy Chávez (cinematographer), Veronica Rutledge (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
An ambitious hotel manager (Boneta) forms a connection with a movie star (Barbaro)…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON AT MIDNIGHT?
Well, I suppose Netflix’s Your Place or Mine is the best friend that At Midnight could possibly have, because no matter what can be said about the new Paramount+ rom-com, it at least has a lot more style and personality, and is clearly made by people who had some inkling of passion for what they’re doing. That isn’t even to say that the movie is very good, because it does have quite a lot of problems to call its own, but comparatively speaking this is a more satisfying Valentine’s Day option – but, again, not by that much.
We first meet Sophie Wilder (played by Top Gun: Maverick standout Monica Barbaro), an actress who is best known for leading a superhero franchise with her real-life squeeze Adam (Anders Holm), but relations between the two sour when she catches him cheating on her. However, the two of them are forced to still pretend to be a couple so as not to overshadow production of the latest film in their franchise, which they are about to shoot in Mexico. It is here where we then meet Alejandro (Diego Boneta), a junior manager at the fancy hotel that the Hollywood actors are staying at; he lives a carefree life, hooking up with tourists and not having to worry about long-term commitments, while also dreaming of starting his own boutique hotel. Naturally, both he and Sophie soon encounter one another, but the spark between them is immediate, and they begin spending time together – when else? – at midnight, when they begin to fall more in love with each other.
There are some good things to say about the film – its style, for one, calls back heavily to the older form of romantic comedy movies from the early-to-mid twentieth century, and it’s clear that the filmmakers, including director Jonah Feingold and writers Maria Hinojos and Giovanni M. Porta, are having a lot of fun playing into some of its tropes. There’s an opening credit sequence with vintage text fonts against hand-drawn backgrounds, a sweeping orchestral score that flutters every time a romantic gesture is made, moments of mishap with screwball comedy undertones, and occasionally an animated shot of a clock to indicate that things are happening, once again, at midnight. You can tell that Feingold, Hinojos and Porta are big fans of these old-timey rom-coms and they utilise their most recognisable assets in ways that are definitely familiar, but still in their own way charming. The two leads are also very good together, with Diego Boneta (also a producer on the film) proving himself to be a charismatic presence, as is Monica Barbaro who radiates an equal amount of charm, and their chemistry sizzles enough to where it is very easy to buy their fantastical relationship.
However, not even a pair of charming leads and a nice attempt at a retro style of rom-com filmmaking can fully save At Midnight from a number of glaring problems, many of them to do with how it is structured. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly, but there is something about the way that it is edited that feels a tad off, like it was rushed through post-production without enough time to smoothen its rougher edges, and it seems oddly disconnected as a result. You can certainly tell what is supposed to be happening, but it’s so haphazardly stitched together that it can often be jarring to watch, because it doesn’t seem like they bothered to give it a natural flow in the editing room. It’s a shame since, again, it does have those shining qualities which are being awkwardly buried by this rather inconsistent and unnatural flow.
I hesitate to complain too much, because unlike Your Place or Mine there is at least some passion put into the writing and execution of these familiar rom-com tropes (even if that apparently didn’t extend to the editing), but this is one of those cases where you can definitely see a rather decent and even romantic movie somewhere underneath a much messier and less stable one. The chemistry between the two leads, as well as the admirable call-backs to classic rom-coms of old, were enough to at least keep me from getting as bored as I did during the Netflix one, but I was a little frustrated by this one because while the story, characters, and embrace of all these cheesy conventions are all rather likeable, it feels like whoever put this through post-production made it feel far less tidy than it perhaps deserves to be.
If you can endure some pretty bad editing, then maybe At Midnight is a tolerable Valentine’s Day option. However, it’s never as great as it could have been, which leaves you more frustrated than truly in love.
SO, TO SUM UP…
At Midnight has some charming qualities, mainly in its vintage style that calls back to the screwball rom-coms of the twentieth century, and some good chemistry between leads Diego Boneta and Monica Barbaro, but the clumsy and rushed editing makes it a frustrating mess, because you can see a perfectly fine movie underneath a sloppily put-together one.
