That Night (1992) – Nostalgia Central

It is the summer of 1961, and 10-year-old Alice Bloom (Eliza Dushku) lives in material comfort with her parents on a peaceful suburban street on Long Island.

She idolises Sheryl (Juliette Lewis), the teenage girl-next-door, and when Sheryl begins an affair with Rick (C. Thomas Howell) – a street-wise young hood from Queens who works at the local bowling alley – parental opposition turns Alice into a lifeline between the star-crossed couple.

In her innocent, child-like way, Alice wants a piece of the action, and her involvement provides her with an entry visa.

The big night in That Night is one in which Sheryl uses babysitting Alice as an excuse to sneak out and see Rick.

Alice gets to hang out with both of them the whole night, in a lovingly filmed sequence that shows everything through Alice’s eyes.

Best of all is the scene under the boardwalk, with the teenagers drinking and necking, their faces glowing in the bonfire light.

It looks both like something out of hell and like something enchanted and wonderful, the place where mysteries are revealed.

Sheryl becomes pregnant, and her mother packs her off upstate to a home for unwed mothers. Alice is grounded herself and so is unable to deliver Sheryl’s final message to Rick

Unaware of his lover’s fate, Rick howls below her window, a wounded creature whining in the night.

The film was adapted from a novel by Alice McDermott.

Rick
C. Thomas Howell
Sheryl O’Connor
Juliette Lewis
Ann O’Connor
Helen Shaver
Alice Bloom
Eliza Dushku
Carol Bloom
J. Smith-Cameron
Larry Bloom
John Dossett
Kathryn
Katherine Heigl
Barbara
Sarah Joy Stevenson
Mickey Meyer
Ben Terzulli
Max Meyer
Thomas Terzulli
Don O’Connor
Michael Costello
Mrs Carpenter
Kathryn Meisle
Mr Carpenter
Adam LeFevre
Mrs Rossi
Carolyn Swift
Mr Rossi
Charles Musumeci
Mrs Meyer
Debora Robertson
Mr Meyer
John Healey
Mrs Bell
Becky Ann Baker
Mr Bell
Paul Morella
Jeanette
Sabrina Lloyd
Coleman
Thompson Hunt
Vitelli
Rick Schatz
Danny the Date
Adam Kroloff
Young Nun
Lucy Roucis
Sister Lorraine
Barbara Barry
Pam
Sarah Rose

Director
Craig Bolotin