Night Shift

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Night Shift

R

Released Jul 30, 1982

1h 46m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

63%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Chuck (Henry Winkler) has given up life as a stockbroker because it was too stressful. Now, he works an easy gig as a night shift attendant at a New York City morgue. His co-worker, Bill Blazejowski (Michael Keaton), on the other hand, is always looking to make a quick buck. When Bill finds out that Chuck's prostitute neighbor, Belinda (Shelley Long), needs a place to do her work, he convinces Chuck to turn the morgue into a brothel where they can work as her pimps.

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Critics Consensus

Night Shift bristles with pitch-perfect laughs thanks to Ron Howard's snappy direction and a side-splitting turn from Michael Keaton.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Winkler is perfect as the redeemed nerd, and Keaton is a super find, bristling with raw energy. Director Ron Howard sometimes takes the easy route to a laugh, drawing from his wealth of sitcom experience, but he also pays attention to his characters.

Oct 22, 2018

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Bruce McCabe

Boston Globe

Still, Howard's assured style and instinct for comedy keep "Night Shift" light and breezy for most of the time.

Apr 27, 2018

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

Night Shift makes it apparent that Howard acquired an enormous amount of savvy about comic staging and acting during those 20 years or so on the tube.

Apr 24, 2018

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Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Keaton's epiphany over tuna fish sandwiches is beautiful to behold.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 31, 2024

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Stephen Silver

Tilt Magazine

When the two stars of "Happy Days" reunited to make a movie about a mild-mannered young man who finds a way out of his crisis of masculinity, by becoming a pimp. (40th anniversary)

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 5, 2022

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Peter Sobczynski

The Spool

Unlike most of his subsequent features, Howard is not exactly striving for respectability here and Night Shift is all the better for it.

Jul 31, 2022

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Michael H.

Great comedic moments, but also a lot of drama. Kudos to the stars for giving great performances.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/19/25

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Stephen C

Funny in 1 hour and 46 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/19/25

Full Review

Christian K

Keaton is throwing something like 1000 mph in every scene, has to be one of the best comedic performances of the 80s.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/05/25

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Brent A

40% rating ... Pretty decent storyline with some fun laughs. Michael Keaton is the clear star of this film. The ending felt very stale though.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/18/25

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thiago s

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é mais ou menos, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores, e relevantes para fazer o filme ser bom.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/25

Full Review

Audience Member

I liked this movie a lot, unfortunately this movie suffers from the same thing most 80’s do. A lack of guts. If it had ended with Chuck losing everything after giving it his all and letting loose, it would have been much more profound. Similar to goodfellas I guess. Of course at the end, he gets the girl or whatever. Happy endings are nice though, so I can’t be too upset. Keaton wasn’t all that good. Shelley Long played Belinda perfectly though, Ron Howard didn’t do bad at all. A decent little 80’s comedy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/29/24

Full Review

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Ron Howard

Director

Henry Winkler

Chuck Lumley

Michael Keaton

Bill Blazejowski

Shelley Long

Belinda Keaton

Gina Hecht

Charlotte Koogle

Pat Corley

Edward Koogle

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Synopsis

Chuck (Henry Winkler) has given up life as a stockbroker because it was too stressful. Now, he works an easy gig as a night shift attendant at a New York City morgue. His co-worker, Bill Blazejowski (Michael Keaton), on the other hand, is always looking to make a quick buck. When Bill finds out that Chuck's prostitute neighbor, Belinda (Shelley Long), needs a place to do her work, he convinces Chuck to turn the morgue into a brothel where they can work as her pimps.

Director: Ron Howard
Producer: Brian Grazer
Screenwriter: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Ladd Company, Major Studio Partners
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 30, 1982, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 15, 2008
Runtime: 1h 46m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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