Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

brainfertilizer I hated this movie. It is quite possibly one of the worst movies I've ever seen.Part of my problem with it is the clever ending. Part of my problem with it is the typical Hollywood sympathetic portrayal of the Saintly AIDS-stricken Homosexual Wise Man. Part of my problem with it is that I just don't like Wesley Snipes much as an actor; to me, the same arrogant personality is present in every movie I've seen him in. Part of it was some extremely cheesy dialog meant to establish his wife's character: Wesley: "But, Honey, the kids...." Ming-na: "F*** the kids, I'm coming!"

valadas In this excellent movie we are told an apparently very simple story where life meets death, success crosses with failure, conjugal life redounds in adultery and love triumphs over it all though in a somewhat strange way. A man's best friend is dying of AIDS. He comes to visit him and that fact unchains a lot of coincidences and accidental events which will change some people's lives. This story is really made of factual coincidences but this circumstance far from being a flaw, is its backbone since life itself is full of strange coincidences and those shown here are not improbable. Life is really an orange like the dying man tells his best friend in his deathbed. What does this mean indeed? The answer is not given in the movie so it's up to you to find it by yourself. Another very important feature of the plot is the solid friendship between these two men which is revealed by some very moving deeds and circumstances. One last word for the sound track music which is also excellent and adequate to the atmosphere of the movie thus reinforcing it and making us feel it more deeply. And one last warning: prudes, abstain from seeing this movie because you will hate it not so much for certain scenes (as a matter of fact we have seen a lot of more explicit ones in a lot of famous movies) but because you won't be able to lay your moral prejudice aside in order to ire the beauty of this true love story or to understand its rather odd end. Is it important to say that the lovers' couple is here composed of a black man and a white woman (Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski who perform their roles very well)? I don't think so.

rowiddow I've just finished watching One Night Stand. I enjoyed it enough to want to write something and to read what others thought of it.Wow, some folks sure like to spew their venom! I'm surprised; I'm thankful that someone like Figgis actually has a presence in Hollywood, the home of superficial characters, simplistic plots, and unbelievable dialogue. Figgis doesn't fall into any of these traps.Instead, he goes against the grain by presenting a character, Max, played by Snipes (who does a superb job at understatement - who knew?) who is not entirely likable. He's arrogant, self-centered, and way-too-impulsive.Hey, wait a second: how am I going to identify with him? He's not all that slick or heroic (he discovers first-hand that his wife's having an affair and promptly loses her).But somehow Figgis drew me into the story. And he resisted using predictable ploys. He managed to reveal something important about this self-satisfied guy that turns things upside down: Max is terribly unsatisfied.Someone commented on the phoney quality of his wife's orgasm. Gee, maybe it wasn't the ACTRESS chewing the scenery, maybe it was the CHARACTER chewing it. D'you think that Mike may actually be sophisticated enough as a Director that he'd ask his ACTRESS to play her CHARACTER, which he scripted, as something of a loud-mouth? Seems plausible.The segment at the Dinner Party shows the complexity of the characters. During dinner, surrounded by people who are intricately connected with TV, Max makes a statement about the moral and artistic vacuity of the Industry. I mean, its almost as good as Peter Finch's "I'm mad as hell..." speech. (This alone made me ire Figgis and the character he created - a person who bites the hand that feeds him in an act of outrage takes guts!) Later, in the privacy of their bedroom, Max's wife tears into him, accusing him of being arrogant. Well, no, maybe he's just really sick of the way TV twists artists with integrity into hyenas.Doesn't her reaction help to explain Max's general malaise? He's caught in a career that's not all he thought it would be, that came between him and his best friend (R. Downey, Jr). And now his wife doesn't want to hear him speak critically of it.Question: Why are we genuinely surprised when we encounter something other than the flattest of characters? Answer: Because we don't recognize what is unfamiliar to us. And complex or nuanced charcters in a Hollywood movie are unfamiliar creatures.I respect Figgis for giving us characters whose next move you can't predict. It helps me regard the world with more nuance - which is precisely the sort of thing Art should be doing.

davek28 I really enjoyed this film. Leaving Las Vegas has to be one of my favourite films ever, and I enjoyed Timecode and The Browning Version too. So I'm becoming a Mike Figgis fan.I accept criticisms regarding the synthetic nature of the plot. It's all a bit too manipulative and unlikely -- but the subtlety of each character's performance, and the way the film is woven together (including some wonderful music choices) makes this movie a pleasure for me.If you regard this film as an experience rather than a narrative, then I think it has a lot to offer. My criteria for superb film-making is that I come out of the cinema (or rewind the video) feeling different to when I began. This film affected my mood and made me think. By the way -- the casting jarred quite a lot at the start, but became less of a problem as I got into the characterisations. Full marks to Wesley Snipes for being brave enough to make this film. Close to top marks to Nastassjia Kinski for being quietly superb, and Ming-Na Wen for the loudest orgasm on film outside of When Harry Met Sally.Eight out of ten.