About Last Night - C

Rated R, 100 minutes

Sweet but bland remake "About Last Night" waters down its relationships

Regina Hall and Kevin Hart

The new romantic comedy "About Last Night" isn't really new: it's a remake of a 1980s Brat Pack film, and in spite of an engaging cast and a few fun moments, lacks the raunchy edge the original film had. A new version of the 1986 film "About Last Night" and the David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," this contemporary urban Los Angeles retelling closely follows new love for two very different couples (Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant and Regina Hall and Kevin Hart) as they journey from the bar to the bedroom and who relationships are eventually put to the test in the real world. Directed by Steve Pink ("Hot Tub Time Machine") and written by Leslye Headland ("Bachelorlette"), it bears little resemblance to the original film or the Mamet play and lacks the relationship insight or the dirty playfulness of those initial efforts (not to mention no Demi Moore and Rob Lowe). The central problem is that it spends too much time on the blander, boring pairing (Ealy and Bryant) who share little chemistry, and not on the fun pairing of Hart and his female twin, Hall, who all but walk off with the movie when they're together (the hilarious Thanksgiving scene is their most memorable scene together). Hall and Hart would be much funnier in their own movie together, instead it's filled with the banality of the pretty couple, Ealy and Bryant, who spend too much time arguing over minor things. "About Last Night" isn't a terrible effort, just a mediocre one compared to the wittier 1986 film (which makes a cameo, watch closely for it). Outside of the fun Hall and Hart provide, you're better off with something else this Valentine's Day.

Wes's Grade: C