An odd mix of the aftermath of a one night stand with the unrelated effects of dying from AIDs, this is writer/director Mike Figgis' follow up work to his Oscar nominated "Leaving Las Vegas." The subjects are uncommon, but do allow the two plot lines eventually to interact with each other. Why these two subjects are pasted together isn't blatantly obvious, other than to say (as the characters do at the end of the story) that life is short and you better do what you can to make yourself happy during your brief time here. Despite that sober sounding message, one can never tell if the film is meant to be taken seriously as there is a moderate amount of comic tension present. For example, when Max returns home after his affair, the family dog smells something different on him and won't let him be. In another scene, Max is ready to confess to his cheating when his wife beats him to the punch and states that she already knows, but wonders if he did just once, or if he did it several times (she's ultimately talking about him smoking). There are also the scenes where the two couples get together for dinner and the resulting effect is comically awkward.
The film's strange aura starts at the very beginning where Snipes' character breaks "the fourth wall" (a theater expression for addressing the audience who sits where the theoretical fourth wall of a stage play would stand). He looks right into the camera and then starts giving us the back story. I wondered if it was going to be some sort of documentary being filmed that we'd then see him talking into another camera in the movie, but no, he's talking directly to us. Why this device was employed is beyond me. The information he delivers (which is surprisingly little) could easily have been presented in several brief lines of dialogue, and the "fourth wall" device is rarely used after that opening. You know us — we hate voice over narration unless it's absolutely necessary or is used as a last resort. Here it serves no real purpose and is occasionally so bad it's silly. Snipes says "Death is so f*cking strange" and then later adds "Everything that was hollow and false inside me suddenly seem so clear." Sure...we all talk (or think) like that. Had Figgis continued to break the fourth wall that would have been one thing, but its random use is odd and distracting. You can't help but wonder if Snipes is going to pause in some given scene, look over at us, and give us a wink.
The film also suffers from an odd shooting style that mixes slow motion footage with strange fading out and fading in effects. While it's certainly different looking, it serves no real purpose other than to blatantly look different from other films, and like some of the other material it's a distraction from the movie's flow. The performances are good, with Robert Downey Jr. providing a believable, if uncomfortable to watch, take on a man dying of AIDs. Perhaps his recent problems with heroin addiction (and the obligatory withdrawal effects) gave him some real life practice in appearing the way he does in this movie. The other performers are good but not outstanding with Snipes doing his usual calm, in control character, and Kinski showing she still has a sultry aura about her.
Figgis has now developed a penchant for creating weak characters who cave in to their physical cravings and needs and he fills this film with such beings. Like Nicolas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas" who couldn't get the thought of liquor out of his mind, Snipes' character can't get Kinski out of his, nor she out of hers. Added to that his need for cigarettes and then for pot, and you've got one tremendously flawed character. And of course there's the Charlie character who's dying of AIDs. Not a fun bunch of people to hang out with, and like the superior "Leaving Las Vegas" these flawed characters keep the audience at a distance and the empathy at a minimum. It's like seeing a bum on the street — you might give him a quarter but you're probably not going to ask about his personal life. Still, the characters' needs fuel the plot, which is a good thing because the rest of it feels awkward and disjointed.
Added to that is a bad sound mix where at times the street noises and other sounds nearly drown out the dialogue, while at other times it's perfectly fine. Figgis may be using that symbolically (these people being drowned by their surroundings, or the big city), but it's very annoying and makes understanding the dialogue quite difficult. He does succeed with the musical score that he arranged and the jazz-like numbers add a great deal of mood to this feature. It's too bad the rest of the movie doesn't work as well. Some may like Figgis' approach in creating and shooting this film, but we found it too distracting and haphazard to really enjoy it. Thus, we give "One Night Stand" a 4 out of 10.