Another hooker movie, Night Shift 1982

Well, I didn’t get this one from Netflix in time so it’s worth adding. Night Shift was Ron Howard’s first hit movie as a director, and it shows the promise that he fulfilled two years later in Splash. It’s in the romantic comedy genre, but the entire scenario centers around a group of hookers whose pimp gets murdered and they end up looking for “better management.” As always in these stories, the hookers are loveable, genuine, and beautiful, the kind of girl every guy would want for a girlfriend and even take home to his mom (well, at least his dad). It’s uncanny how this theme has continued from movie to movie since the ‘60’s, in spite of the contradictory public and legal attitude toward prostitution. For instance, you’ll never see a straight news article in the mainstream press that confirms this popular Hollywood attitude. Are we confused in the U.S.? Duh!

And, the typical ending persists: hooker falls in love with guy who rescues her from the trade, and consequently the guy gets the best of both worlds, in and out of bed. It’s well worth seeing for a couple of light-hearted, fun hours with a warm fuzzy conclusion. And, if you ever wondered where the song, “That’s What Friends Are For,” came from, now you know. A few years later, it became a number one hit as a fund raiser theme for AIDS research.