A Night at the Roxbury
Directed by John Fortenberry
- comedy
- romance
The story
Despite being well into adulthood, brothers Doug and Steve Butabi still live at home and work in the flower shop owned by their dad. They exist only to hit on women at discos, though they're routinely unsuccessful until a chance run-in with Richard Grieco gets them inside the swank Roxbury club. Mistaken for high rollers, they meet their dream women, Vivica and Cambi, and resolve to open a club of their own.
What it’s like
Bright, flat studio lighting and saturated club colors give A Night at the Roxbury the look of a late-nineties sketch show stretched to feature length: fluorescent flower-shop greens and beige suburban rooms, then the strobing, laser-lit glow of a velvet-rope club where everything turns brassy and overexposed. The camera mostly stays put in tight two-shots and cheap-looking handheld bursts, and the sound is pure period dance pop, thumping house beats and eighties-indebted tracks that spill into every scene. Its vibe is goofy, cheerful and deliberately silly, a good fit for a lazy Friday night, a comfort rewatch with friends, or background noise while doing something else. The pacing is brisk and sketch-like, built from repeated bits and broad physical comedy rather than sustained tension, and its emotional register is affectionate and light, following two lovably clueless guys who keep trying, failing and trying again for confidence and a little romance. Violence is absent; sexual content is suggestive, with crude jokes and innuendo rather than explicit scenes. For people who want a silly, undemanding comedy with big personalities and loud, nostalgic nightlife.
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