One Night Stand

Who knows how much is left of Joe Eszterhas's original script now credited to director Mike Figgis. Surely Mr. Basic Instinct didn't make his illicit couple, Wesley Snipes and Nastasstja Kinski, jump through such hoops (an overbooked hotel, a missed flight, a classical music concert, a mugging) before they fall into bed. Snipes is a successful director of commercials in New York visiting his estranged friend who has been diagnosed with AIDS. Kinski is, ahem, a rocket scientist. The wince-inducing dialogue ("You have a black heart," is her way of telling him that the pen in his shirt pocket is leaking) is redeemed somewhat by the performances of a toned-down Snipes, a superb Robert Downey, Jr. as his life-affirming friend, and Ming-Na Wen making the most of a thankless role as Snipes' harridan wife. A let down from the director of Leaving Las Vegas. Optional. (K. Lee Benson)