A washed-up actress wakes up to a murder mystery she cannot remember solving.
In short: In the 1986 thriller The Morning After, an alcoholic actress awakens on Thanksgiving to find a dead photographer in her loft. With no memory of the previous night, she goes on the run, teaming up with a disgraced former police officer to uncover the truth behind a deadly frame-up.
Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film centers on Alexandra Sternbergen, a struggling performer who uses the stage name Viveca Van Loren. After waking up next to the corpse of a photographer named Bobby Korshack in his Los Angeles loft, she attempts to flee the city. Her path crosses with Turner Kendall, a former police officer who becomes her unlikely ally as she navigates a web of suspicion. The narrative explores themes of addiction and desperation, as Alex fears she will be blamed for the crime due to a prior domestic assault conviction involving her ex-husband.
The plot thickens as Alex discovers she is being framed, eventually leading to a confrontation involving her estranged husband, Jacky Manero, and his socialite lover, Isabel Harding. It is revealed that Isabel murdered Bobby to stop him from using lascivious photographs for blackmail, while Jacky orchestrated the frame-up to protect her. The climax features a tense struggle in a salon, where Turner intervenes to save Alex from being drowned by Jacky. The film concludes with a moment of connection between Alex and Turner, both of whom are revealed to be recovering alcoholics.
Critical reception was mixed but generally favorable, with the film holding a 63% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While some critics, such as Roger Ebert, noted gaps in the thriller plot, they praised the character development and the performances of Jane Fonda and Jeff Bridges. Fonda, whose portrayal was compared to her work in Klute, earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film remains a notable example of a sophisticated comedy-mystery that relies heavily on the chemistry between its leads rather than a perfectly watertight script.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: The Morning After (1986 film)
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