The last Sign - Das letzte Zeichen

OK, I am a red-blooded female. Sometimes I rent a flick simply because a good-looking actor is in it. When I saw the DVD box for this one I recognized Samuel Le Bihan from "Brotherhood of the Wolf". Since I thought he was "all that and a bag of chips" in that one, I decided to check him out in this one. Also, I like Andie MacDowell well enough and I was curious to see what their fellow cast mate Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve "Superman" flicks) looks like these days.

Undeniably there are much better flicks out there, but this one wasn't all bad. There are a few kinda creepy/mysterious scenes and some interesting camera shots and angles. And, yes, Samuel Le Bihan provided some enjoyable eye candy to offset the creepy-as-usual Tim Roth. By the way, has Roth ever played a sympathetic character? If you like the current hit TV series "Medium" starring Patricia Arquette, you will most likely enjoy this movie. It sort of reminded me of some story lines on that show.

In general, I believe film audiences are jaded in the 21st Century. We are desensitized by the plethora of special effects and blast-'em-up extravaganzas with high body counts. It seems that fewer people want to invest the time in a lower-key film, such as this one, in which seemingly random details come together in at least a somewhat cohesive whole at the end. That's not to say the film wrapped up all loose ends, because it didn't. That is one reason I didn't give it more stars. Another reason is the uneven acting. In other words, some of the cast provided more convincing portrayals than others. And, Margot Kidder is as goofy as ever. I hadn't seen her in anything in a number of years.

For my time and money, I would take this film any day over "The Blair Witch Project", which, to me, is the worst movie ever.

This is truly one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I've sat through some real stinkers. "The Last Sign" features a deadly combination of wooden acting from Andie MacDowell, overacting on the son's part that soap operas would balk on, and a script that sounds as though it was written by a three-year-old. Consider this line uttered by Mark (Samuel Lebihan) at a baseball game. "Frank's team is winning. Now all the pressure is on Frank." This was followed by shouts to Frank of "Come on! You can do it!" It might look nice on paper, but it sounded so wooden and unrealistic coming out of their mouths that as soon as the movie was over, I wanted to throw the DVD across the room. Let's not forget the fact that too many unbelievable events happened for no reason, and the ending completely forgot to explain them all. Avoid this movie like the plague.

Kathy is widow that still remembers his husband, and alcoholic and violent man that died in accident car the same day they broke up. She fells guilty and is not able to rebuild her life. The apparition of a new neighbor, Mark, and the strange things that begin to happen in her life will change this. The story is very typical and has anything new, in most moments, it is very stupid, as things are happening without any logic. Most characters are empty, just a name and a body, with no flavour in them. The film develops with bad attempts of being frightening and the ending is, well, it is easy to do it better. It is a film for Sunday afternoon, when nobody is watching TV. But well, it is not very boring.

The widow Kathy (Andie MacDowell) is grieving the loss of her husband Jeremy (Tim Roth) with the feeling of guilty. Jeremy, who was an idealist doctor in the beginning of his career and lately a drunkard, died in a car accident after seriously arguing with Kathy, when she was leaving him with their two daughters and a son. Her financial situation is not good, so she starts working in a clinic and rents a house in her property to the French engineer Marc (Samuel Le Bihan), who is temporarily expatriated in Canada. The tenant Marc has a great connection with her young daughters and especially with her teenager son, and falls in love for Kathy. However, she sees the ghost of her husband, and she feels not comfortable to have any relationship with Marc.

The intention of this movie is very good: it would be about a woman, living with the feeling of guilty after the loss of her abusive alcoholic husband, but formerly her beloved mate. Unfortunately, the screenplay is weak and has many flaws. For example, the financial problem of Kathy with the bank is used only for the introduction of the character of Marc, and is completely forgotten along the story. Why the ghost of Fergus needs to call her by phone, if she was able to see him? It was good to see Margot Kidder again, but her character is useless in the plot. Anyway, this movie is not so bad as indicated in some reviews and I found it a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Gritos do Além" ("Cries From Beyond")

This flick was intended to be a fantasy and horror work and it became a Harlequin Romance .How can a director do such a thing with an actor like Tim Roth?Anyway Roth is a ghost and he is not given a single chance to shine.Samuel LE Bihan's character is the straight handsome gentle -and of course clever-man who loves the heroine's children and who urges her to pick up the pieces and to give them a chance.

When the movie tries to be "scary", it uses all the hackneyed tricks which even the worst directing drudges would not dare :"I've just talked to your son/-But my son is dead " here's the "terrifying "dialog; The "old" colleague (Margot Kidder!) initiating McDowell to spiritualism is also ridiculous.

The last scene takes the biscuit,with its "moving" last sign ,naturally filmed in slow motion.

If you want to see a movie which tackles almost the same subject and brilliantly succeeds ,take FRançois Ozon's "Sous le Sable" starring Charlotte Rampling.(International title:"Under the Sand" )