{"id":803815,"date":"2026-08-05T19:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T19:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/803815\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T19:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T19:26:13","slug":"one-night-only-cant-overcome-an-absurd-premise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/803815\/","title":{"rendered":"‘One Night Only’ can’t overcome an absurd premise"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n

\"MonicaMonica Barbaro (far right) as Allie in “One Night Only.”Nicole Rivelli\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

When Allie asks about Arya\u2019s decision to not go carousing, she replies that gay people have been flouting society\u2019s laws since before the Bible. They\u2019re still hooking up on a regular basis. Arya\u2019s comment makes no sense, because in this universe, if you do have sex on any of the other 364 days of the year, a Wi-Fi transmitter embedded in your wrist will call the cops on you, and you\u2019ll be arrested. <\/p>\n

So, how exactly is Arya getting around this? What is the sentence for repeat offenders? Since the anti-sex sensor reacts to dopamine, does it go off if you\u2019re practicing the onanistic art of self-abuse? And why is the horny, filthy-mouthed 12-year old male nerd Arya\u2019s baby-sitting the only believable character?<\/p>\n

\"CallumCallum Turner and Monica Barbaro in “One Night Only.”Nicole Rivelli\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

When a movie is as poorly constructed and uninvolving as this one is, all you can do is ask questions. As a romantic comedy, \u201cOne Night Only\u201d fails because the leads have more chemistry with other people than each other. The film keeps them apart for long periods of time so they can engage with those other people. While comedic separation is a staple of the rom-com, it\u2019s usually designed to make you long for the next scene between the potential lovebirds. Here, you hope they stay apart.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame because Allie is quite fetching and personable, with a killer singing voice. At her job, she sings commercial jingles redone as spoofs of popular songs. Barbaro received an Oscar nomination for playing Joan Baez in \u201cA Complete Unknown<\/a>,\u201d so it\u2019s a pleasure to hear her sing. Even if she\u2019s forced to belt out Air Supply\u2019s syrupy ballad, \u201cAll Out of Love\u201d with bad boy motorcycle head Max (Andrew Burnap), one of her potential suitors. <\/p>\n

\"CallumCallum Turner as Owen in “One Night Only.”Nicole Rivelli\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

Compared to Max, Owen is a charisma-free dolt. Before the big Meet Cute between him and Allie, he\u2019s on a date with his girlfriend of three years, Skye (Maya Hawke). She informs him over a huge sushi dinner that she plans on sleeping with their neighbor. (Blink and you\u2019ll miss who\u2019s playing the lucky guy.) When Owen meets Allie, he pukes up all that sushi on the sidewalk. How romantic!<\/p>\n

Like Skye, Allie wants nothing to do with this loser, but we\u2019re stuck with a story that desperately tries to earn laughs from their mishaps. At one point, Allie and Owen engage in a battle for the last condom in New York City. The battle is mildly amusing thanks to Roma Maffia\u2019s cameo as the quintessential Noo Yawk corner store owner. But the scene reminded me of Jamie Foxx\u2019s 1997 film \u201cBooty Call,\u201d a superior \u2014 and far raunchier \u2014 comedy about missed hook-up opportunities and the search for a condom. <\/p>\n

\"RickRick (LeVar Burton) and Linda (Molly Ringwald) in “One Night Only.”Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

The supporting characters are more interesting than Owen. Molly Ringwald<\/a> shows up as Owen\u2019s mother, Linda. He runs to her for comfort after being dumped, only to find that she\u2019s spending free sex night with his co-worker, Rick (LeVar Burton). I have to admit that I laughed when I saw the star of \u201cSixteen Candles\u201d and the host of \u201cReading Rainbow\u201d getting bizzy while covered in bubble wrap, if only because I hadn\u2019t thought of using it that way before.<\/p>\n

Ringwald\u2019s appearance here makes sense, because \u201cOne Night Only\u201d would be right at home on a movie screen in 1984. Its ideas are outdated and, for a movie about casual sex, it\u2019s shockingly puritanical. Even worse, its old-fashioned ideas about romance and sex in relationships would make a Doris Day movie look like \u201cBeyond the Valley of the Dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MonicaMonica Barbaro as Allie.Nicole Rivelli\/Universal Pictures<\/p>\n

The film is dishonest in other ways as well. Another potential suitor for Allie, anti-sex-mandate protest rocker Ezra Strong (Charlie Gillespie) drags Allie onstage at a private party so she can conquer her fear of singing in front of crowds. Director Will Gluck stages Allie belting out \u201cOnly You\u201d as a triumphant moment, with the crowd holding up lighters and sending her love. Then, we discover that what we\u2019ve seen is only a figment of Allie\u2019s imagination. \u201cOne Night Only\u201d repeatedly pulls this tired, cheap \u201cit was only a dream\u201d stunt, making you distrustful of anything you\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n

Familiar New York locations like the White Horse Tavern, Electric Ladyland Studios, and the lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge made me smile, as did Barbaro, who deserved better. I remain immune to Turner\u2019s charms, but if you\u2019re a fan, you might find something of worth here. However, if I were you, instead of dropping cash on \u201cOne Night Only,\u201d I\u2019d take its advice on how to spend August 7.<\/p>\n

\u26051\/2<\/p>\n

ONE NIGHT ONLY<\/p>\n

Directed by Will Gluck. Written by Travis Braun. Starring Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Andrew Burnap, Charlie Gillespie, Quintessa Swindell, Maya Hawke. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 102 min. R (it\u2019s one big coitus interruptus joke)<\/p>\n

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Monica…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-803815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}