The Night Clerk

There are few things in cinema worse than the feeling of trying to like something that just doesn’t work. I’m not talking about movies so bad you end up laughing or award-worthy films that you don’t “get.” I’m referring to movies you expect to be good but aren’t. That’s the worst kind of film — and it’s a perfect description of Michael Cristofer’s The Night Clerk.

Starring Tye Sheridan as an autistic young man, the film follows the story of an outsider who dreams of living like everyone else. Bart Bromley is the night clerk for a hotel where a murder occurs. No one knows what happened to the person killed except for Bart, and he only knows because he’s hidden cameras in certain rooms to “study” how people behave. Knowing that revealing the killer will make people aware of his crimes, Bart remains quiet while he becomes the top suspect in the ensuing investigation. 

The Night Clerk seems like a classic crime thriller. Bart knows more than he can share, but sharing what he knows is the only way to clear his name. That formula has worked for numerous films, but it falls short here largely due to a script with no clue how to sustain the tension of its premise. Rather than raise the stakes between Bart and the police, the film chooses instead to focus on Bart and the way he sees the world. Viewers are meant to empathize with a 20something loner who can’t leave his mother’s basement and dreams of falling in love, and to some extent we do, but that empathy comes at the cost of story development.

While the police (lead by John Leguizamo) are spinning their wheels with the case, Bart meets a woman who he believes can see past his condition. She’s conning him, of course, because that’s what every too-good-to-be-true character does in a predictable story such as this. Her intentions are always nefarious, and Bart is the only one who thinks otherwise. Will viewers fall prey to her ways? I sincerely doubt it.

Also appearing in the film are Helen Hunt and Ana de Armas, two phenomenal actresses whose talents are wasted. Hunt portrays Bart’s mother, a woman blissfully unaware that her son is far from well-adjusted, despite Bart maintaining an elaborate tech setup in their home that enables the two to never be in the same room. de Armas, as the aforementioned con artist, plays a faux damsel in distress with such ease you can sense her boredom with the role. Both actresses deserve better, but they deliver nonetheless.

VOD has a bad reputation because of films like The Night Clerk. Not unlike direct-to-VHS releases from the days before streaming, too many titles in this field feel akin to a misguided attempt to spoon-feed audiences who are smarter than the filmmakers assume. Cristofer’s film unfortunately has almost nothing to offer us and exists solely to help the cast and crew pay their bills. Honestly, the more I think about this movie, the more I want to scream. Don’t be like me. Watch something else. Please.

Grade: D-minus. Rated R. Now available on Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube

(Photo: Saban Films)