Every Night at Eight: A breezy, slightly messy musical throwback

Should you watch Every Night at Eight? Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s radio aesthetics and don’t mind a script that feels like it was written on the back of a napkin during a lunch break.

If you prefer gritty realism or tight pacing, stay far, far away. This is pure, sugary fluff. You’ll probably love it if you just want to see some decent singing and don’t care about the fact that the plot basically disappears for half an hour.

The whole thing starts with these three women getting fired. It’s supposed to be a big dramatic moment, but they treat it like they just lost their keys at the grocery store. I think the director forgot to tell them they were supposed to be destitute.

Then there is George Raft. He walks around looking like he’s trying to figure out where he left his car keys for most of the film. He’s supposed to be this suave radio guy, but he mostly just stands there, adjusting his tie while everyone else is doing the heavy lifting.

The songs are actually pretty catchy. It’s that old-school, big-band sound that makes you want to tap your foot even when the scene itself is going nowhere. Whenever they start singing, the movie suddenly wakes up, then falls back asleep the second they stop.

I found myself wondering if they ever actually ate anything in this movie. They just sort of bounce from the radio station to a stage to a street corner. It’s all very clean. Not a speck of dirt anywhere.

It’s not as interesting as Strangers in Love, which had a bit more snap to the dialogue. Here, the jokes are mostly just people yelling over each other, which gets old pretty fast. 📻

There is this one moment where someone is frantically trying to get a radio broadcast going, and the background extras are just standing there, looking at their watches. It’s so obviously a set that I couldn’t stop staring at the fake wall in the back. One of the windows doesn't even have a glass pane in it.

The pacing is a complete disaster, but in a way that feels kind of honest. It just wanders around until it decides it’s time for the finale. No big build-up. No tension. Just a lot of smiling.

It’s a light snack of a movie. You’ll forget you saw it by tomorrow morning, but you won't feel like you wasted your time either. Just don't go looking for deep meaning. It’s not there.

Notes from the couch:

• George Raft looks like he’s in a completely different movie than everyone else.
• The radio equipment is definitely just cardboard and dreams.
• I swear the same three extras walk by the same window six different times.
• The musical numbers are the only reason to stick around for the second half.