Cast: Matthew Broderick, Annabella Sciorra, Kevin Anderson, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Justine Bateman
Director: Warren Leight
Producer: Michael Peyser
Screenplay: Warren Leight
Cinematography: John Thomas
Music: Evan Lurie
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
Sam (Matthew Broderick) has just broken up with his girlfriend, Pastel (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Nursing a broken heart and needing a place to spend a couple of nights each week away from the madness of an apartment that he occupies with several friends, he agrees to time-share a Greenwich Village brownstone with two other people. Also living there are Ellen (Annabella Sciorra), a married woman looking for a place where she can paint without ridicule from her husband, and Brian (Kevin Anderson), a man unwilling to completely let go of his bachelor's ways despite an upcoming wedding. These three never meet, but, by way of notes passed between Sam and Ellen, an unusual attraction develops. When Ellen decides to risk taking the relationship beyond the note stage, she mistakes Brian for Sam, and makes advances towards the wrong man.
This film, despite countless problems, has a few romantic highlights. The coupling of Sciorra and Broderick is unusual, but it works -- at least for the few minutes they're shown together on-screen. Romantic comedies are frequently riddled with plot flaws, and The Night We Never Met is an exceptional offender. While there may be an original element or two in the story, most of what's here has been covered by numerous TV sitcoms. The storyline shows an amazing disregard for logic, and the pacing is woefully uneven. The Night We Never Met takes forever to get going, dragging us through an interminable setup.
Every character is lifted from stock -- these are the types of stereotypes found littering mediocre-to-bad movies. For the most part, the acting isn't good enough for anyone to stand out. Only Annabella Sciorra's Ellen has vestiges of a personality, and that's exclusively because the actress shows greater competence than her co-stars; her character certainly isn't better written.
People who are addicted to romantic comedies will find something to like about this movie, with its theme of fate brining two unhappy people together. More cynical viewers will point out that nothing in this film makes enough sense to warrant such a lofty interpretation. For the most part, I agree with the latter group. The Night We Never Met is best remembered as the movie we never attended.
© 1993 James Berardinelli