The Last Good Time

Delicate but pointless little drama about an old widower (Stahl) who lives in a small apartment in Brooklyn (New York) and starts by an accident of fate a brief relationship with a troubled young woman (D'Abo). The central idea of the movie - a discussion about love, solitude, passion and desire - is developed with good style by Mr Balaban - he really knows the job - but the final result is shallow dialogues, unconvincing situations, all this marred by a complete predictable and not original ending.

I give this a 4 (four).

No car chases or crashes.

Limited sexual content could be deleted and the picture would not suffer.

Extremely well acted by the male lead, please note he was also cast in the Original "Jacob the Liar", a Cz film of the mid 70's only remade after the enormous popularity of "Life Is Beautiful"[almost identical storylines].

See this movie if you have the opportunity!

I had a bit of a mixed reaction to this film, but in the end, I feel that I have to recommend it, since it is so refreshing to see a film that is so leisurely paced. This is a well-made film, with a good story and solid performances, so it's the kind of movie where I would like to (but can't) overlook the major flaws. Unfortunately, the film isn't particularly memorable, and a film that is this slow does tend to make me watch the clock a little more often than usual. As you may have guessed, this is the kind of film for people who prefer to hear conversations instead of explosions in movies they watch. And while I wouldn't say that this is exceedingly effective as far as dialogue-driven films go, it does have two likable leads that make this a movie that is hard not to like.

The person that saw "so much sexuality" in this movie must have seen a different movie or a different version, since I saw no sexuality. Yes, there was a bit of touching, but most people would not call it sex, and it is very minimal. Other than that, there is a bit of nudity but nudity is not sexuality. Olivia d'Abo is sure cute. There are an abundance of things to enjoy a woman for, and it is those other (not sex) things that make Olivia fun to see in the movie, at least for us guys. I think it is unfortunate when people over-emphasize sex. It is a bit strange how Charlotte (Olivia's character) "presents" herself, but many such things in life are awkward.

So yes this is a cute movie; nothing spectacular, but worth watching. There is a bit of bad news at the end, but not much; nothing worse than at the end of Pollyanna.

I was not paying attention as much as I should have, so I am unclear about why her boyfriend (or his friends) were chasing her. Also, there is something about a key that I missed hearing about. So try to catch that stuff.

I only tuned into this movie on cable half or 1/3 way through it, so normally I wouldn't venture a comment. However, there are only two, so I will. I'd really like to see the whole thing through.

This is a charming, life affirming movie. It operates well outside the stereotypes.

It's the seventy year old, Armin Mueller-Stahl, who carries the movie. We are all aware of older men, maybe even this old, who charm younger women. But when they are this old they always need to be either seriously rich, or seriously famous and accomplished in movie land, and for that matter, general popular culture. Mueller-Stahl is none of those things -- although he is well educated, thoughtful, and a talented violin player -- a minor artist. What he is most of all though is a really good listener -- and someone who at root is kind and loving -- even if he had tended to withdraw into a cynical and loner shell.

Of course the 20 something (Olivia D'Abo) has to be needy for there to be any chance of even a passing chemistry between them -- but she is. She gets beaten up by an abusive boyfriend who she knows is headed nowhere's ville with his lowlife criminal lifestyle. The Stahl - D'Abo relationship definitely is mostly father-daughter. But after his generosity, and concern, but lack of preachiness to her, she gives him what she knows will be a precious gift -- and it is.

A sweet movie.

(And I'm decades younger than Stahl.)