A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988)

Thanks for the memories!

Just what I expected

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Everyone tries awfully hard to breath some life into this bad script. In a nutshell, the main character is unsure of his future. All his friends are off to college while he hasn't a clue where to go. His only talents are reciting some bad poetry and many dalliances. There are no endearing characters. The lead character, Phoenix, is down-right unlikeable and I was only wishing that when he was getting his face pounded in one scene that it could have continued a little longer. After all the ordeal, does the character have any greater personal insight? Nope. Still directionless as he lies to his father in the closing scene. Interesting only in seeing some familiar actors in their early days. Plenty of over-acting by Phoenix through-out.

This is a film about a boy named Jimmy Reardon. He's at a turning point in his life, and he has no clue as to what path to take. Sound interesting? Not really.This movie plays off a depth that is non-existent. It's hard to take the main character seriously, when I have no understanding of his view point. Jimmy is shallow and unlikable, and exactly the kind of character you don't want to portray.I read somewhere that RP's mother strongly hinted that he take this role because he hadn't done a film for over two years. I understand that. And I know that River rose above this kind of film and was almost making works of art, before his sudden and tragic death.All I can say about this movie is that it's trying to be intellectual, but don't by into it. Only small-minded individuals could find the sexual promiscuity of Jimmy the equivalent of 'art'.2, just for being a RP film.

I bought this film recently and before i saw it, i read the user comments and I am shocked about the rating it has gotten! I love this film so much, I felt like I knew the characters! The film just seemed so real and we thought out. It clearly isn't the greatest film in the world etc but it sure as hell doesn't deserve to get the rating everyone else on this site has given it. I loved the film so much. It seems like an awesome film and people obviously don't care about it enough to appreciate it. The acting was great and so was the direction. I cannot say one bad word against the film. Not one bad word. All i have to say is praise. I think everyone should give this film a chance and see how good it actually is!

"A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon" is a grinless Coming Of Age film which has been mis-packaged as a comedy. It almost seems as if half the film was in the can before someone on high decided to change the genre... either that or Richert forgot to film a lot of scenes.River Phoenix is said to have been ashamed of his part in the film, but he is actually not bad, considering the material he had to rise above. Reardon gives us a Phoenix who has not yet become hard-eyed, 'though the character he played was nearly graceless. River still had fuzz on his chin and boyish charm. This was a young man on the cusp of greatness.The adult actors in this film were dreadful and the other young actors were uneven. I hardly recognized Mathew Perry. Talk about a baby face!Watching Reardon is like watching kids try to play grownup. The script was originally written for older actors and would have been better if older actors were used. Those used seemed hardly past puberty, and had no idea how to play "sexually jaded" at all.Overall, I prefer Reardon to "Dogfight" as a River Phoenix vehicle and a comparison of the box-office take shows many others did too.See it if only to see a still innocent River Phoenix playing a young man far removed from himself.