One Night Stand (1997)

Rating: B

Dir: Mike Figgis
Star: Wesley Snipes, Nastassja Kinski, Kyle McLachlan, Ming-na Wen

Originally a Joe Eszterhas script, I suspect that version was probably more of a bonkathon; which might have been enjoyable enough, since the object of Snipes’ ONS is none other than Nastassja. Instead, you get something more subtle in which, to my surprise, Kinski wasn’t really the best thing — she drifts ethereally without doing anything beyond look her usual doe-eyed gorgeousness.

Instead, Snipes steals the acting honours with a well-measured performance as he tries to come to terms with his own behaviour. The drama is leavened with touches of humour, and an excellent score adds weight, as do McLachlan, Julian Sands and Robert Downey, Jr., in roles of various importance, though Downey’s dying AIDS patient seems little more than a manipulative ploy. Nice to see that movies with a message are not yet dead: I’m not SURE about the moral here, but it seems to be that after emotional trauma, women like a good shag.