Late Night Shopping Movie Review

Oddly enough, there's little shopping at all in Late Night Shopping. How could there be? The four Brits whom the film resolves around all work at night -- so obviously they'd have to do their shopping during the day.

That little inconsistency is only the first of hundreds you'll find in this virtually unseen flick, which features some engaging characters and performances but blows it all with a script that alternates between illogical and just plain dumb.

Driven by its characters, the film doesn't really muster much of a plot. One guy's live-in girlfriend works days, so they never see each other -- in fact, he's not even sure she's still living there (interesting, yes, but a really silly idea that doesn't have legs). Another is a womanizer who ends up sleeping with the wrong lady. The token female's story is the most intriguing -- she loses her job but continues to meet up with the other three after their shifts are over, unsure why -- but nothing is ever made from it. It's all very cute and quirky in the way that British sarcasm-driven comedies tend to be, but it never amounts to much more than posturing around nutty settings and characters.

Director Saul Metzstein has a workable setup here, but frankly the script needs a lot of work. As with most things, charm only gets you so far in the movies.