Reflections on ... The Morning After (1986)

 

Recently watched: psychological thriller The Morning After (1986). Tagline: “Last night she drank to forget. Today she woke up to a murder. Is he her last hope or the last man she should trust?” Dir: Sidney Lumet.

On Thanksgiving morning, washed-up, middle-aged alcoholic actress Viveca Van Loren (Jane Fonda) awakens with a thunderous hangover in an unfamiliar bedroom lying next to an unfamiliar man. (Her first line of dialogue: “What the fuck?”). 

She was black-out drunk and has zero recollection of the night before. Understandably, Viveca panics when she realizes her bedmate is a corpse – with a bloody knife protruding from his chest! The dead man, we learn, was a notorious pornographer. Is someone trying to frame her for his murder? Is she in danger? Turner Kendall (Jeff Bridges), a sympathetic ex-cop with problems of his own, seemingly offers Viveca a lifeline – and maybe a chance for redemption. 

I hadn’t revisited The Morning After (currently streaming for free on YouTube) in many years. I love its atmospheric view of the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles and Viveca’s life on the fringes of show business. (Befitting a fallen glamour girl, she resides in a frou-frou dusty rose apartment in a pink stucco Art Deco building). It probably succeeds best as a downbeat character study of the tentative budding romance between the unlikely duo of Viveca and Turner. 

/ This fascinates me! When searching for pics to accompany this post, I noted this weird discrepancy. In this sequence, chronic alcoholic Viveca drinks a morning can of beer as an eye-opener. It's clearly a can of Budweiser. For some reason, I found multiple versions of Viveca clutching a can of ... Diet Coke instead? /

/ Amusingly, when “wanted woman” Viveca is in hiding, she conceals her identity with the old-school disguise of headscarf and sunglasses. I always think adopting this method would attract attention and make you look like someone in disguise! /

Unsurprisingly, Fonda absolutely slays as Viveca, but it would be interesting to see how her peers Tuesday Weld or Faye Dunaway would interpret this juicy role (in her broader moments, Fonda sometimes seems to be doing a Dunaway impersonation). And with a few minor tweaks it’s easy to imagine The Morning After making a great woman-in-peril noir vehicle for Crawford, Stanwyck or Davis in the 1950s (it occasionally recalls Davis as a boozy ageing actress on the skids in The Star (1952)). 

In addition to the stellar Fonda and Bridges, the impressive supporting cast includes Raul Julia, Diane Salinger (Simone from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)!) and a fleeting appearance from an unknown young Kathy Bates. One nice detail: Viveca relies on loyal gay confidantes for support. On the lam and needing a change of clothes, she visits a drag queen friend. Before that, a sympathetic gay bartender (played by Bruce Vilanch!) comps her a free drink. 

Best exchange: Alex: “I was being groomed to be the next Vera Miles.” Turner: “Who?” Alex: “See! I was getting ready to replace somebody the public didn't even know was missing!”