The beginning of the film follows the midlife crisis of police officer Frank played by Pacino after two decades of his career. He is alcoholic, addicted and lonely, but he has rich experience and keen intuition in his work, and he has a humane attitude towards criminals. He and the detective played by John Goodman cooperated in the investigation of a serial homicide case. The victims of this case were all lovers of love, and they preferred to publish poems on the New York Times Friendship page to attract butterflies. Pacino tried to find out the truth about the killer by using poems about his friends, but fell in love with the shoe store waiter played by Alan Barkin during the investigation. As the relationship deepened, his lies were exposed one by one. , The truth about Ba Jin has become more and more terrifying.
The setting of the film's plot reveals the female-phobia syndrome of the 1980s movies. The story of femme fatale that draws decent detectives deeper and deeper is also one of the usual themes of film noir. However, compared with the atmosphere of film noir, "Midnight Terror" pays more attention to characterization. The role of Pacino in this film is different from the arrogant and domineering role he used to play afterwards, and he often reveals a good sense of humor in the chattering front, which makes Goodman, the comedian used by the Coen brothers, pale in comparison and at the same time. He has developed his weak and neurotic acting style in "Hot Day Afternoon". The sparkling chemical reaction between Pacino and Barkin is an irreplaceable engine for this film. Barkin's performance is not less difficult than Pacino, because she has to master the mysterious characteristics of the character's ambiguous personality in order to confuse Pacino and the audience of the film, and leave the reveal of the mystery to the last moment.
The actor is in good shape, thanks to an excellent script. The script written by Richard Price not only has a steady rhythm and a smooth narrative, but also has rich details and excellent dialogue, which makes Pacino and Goodman fun to show off their extraordinary sense of humor. The beginnings and turns of the film's plot, and the step by step progress of the doubts are tightly integrated, so that the film does not excessively use the bloody erotic elements of serial homicides as a gimmick. Just a good straight line story is enough to conquer the audience, and the film is elegant in its simplicity. This seems to be an excellent quality that is scarce in today’s Hollywood crime films that render pornographic violence and use multi-line narratives.
The meticulous depiction of the lonely life in the city is the soul of the film, and the advertisement for friends in the newspaper is the perfect correspondence of this phenomenon in the 1980s. Urban men and women yearn for relationships but are afraid of deception and possession. Therefore, their respective concealment of secrets makes the relationship between men and women full of panic and paranoia. In the final analysis, it reflects the love and hatred of these characters for New York life. In this city where fear and ideal coexist, Pacino And Ba Jin strives to maintain a relationship filled with lies. As a crime commercial film, "Midnight Terror" explores the mentality of New Yorkers not as deep as Woody Allen's film, but Pacino's improvisation at the end of the film (see note) is correct. The perfect interpretation of this ambivalence, because in this city, even a reckless passerby can be an opportunity to trigger a magical moment.
(Note: According to the documentary included with the DVD, included in the final cut of the film is a scene where Al Pacino's character gets rudely bumped into on 5th Avenue while trying to court Ellen Barkin's character. According to the director this was an unscripted moment caused by a real New Yorker and not an extra. Pacino incorporates the moment into his performance and continues without missing a beat.)
If you look at this lens carefully, you can find that there is a fat passerby who is a decade old behind Pa and Ba Jin Followed them almost an entire block.
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