Last Exit

First, I saw this film in Venice, Italy last August but I didn't see all of it. We went sightseeing. Finally last night, it emerged on late night television and I made a point to watch it. The two actresses who play Beth and Diana are brilliant in their performances. Their characters are far more alike than different. Beth is a struggling single mother of a wheelchair bound son, Benji, who she loves more than anything. She is having a rough day would be an understatement. Nothing appears to go right. Benji's father bought a house an hour away and wants to file for custody of him with his wife. Beth loses her job as a result of incompetence or lack of compassion. She doesn't have enough money in her bank account to buy her son a telescope so she pawns her necklace. She gets into a road rage incident which is equally her fault but then nobody appears to stop her. Diana is a married mother of two children with another on the way. She is equally having a bad day. Her husband is unemployed and they are on the verge of losing their home. Her son was caught bringing a gun to an expensive prep school and was expelled. Her daughter's needs are never quite answered. She needs a promotion to save her family and she needs to reassure her status in the business world. I didn't like the ending. The plot was suspenseful and kept moving along but I won't spoil it for others. You have to see it to believe it.

Against a gritty urban landscape, Last Exit follows a single day in the lives of Beth Welland and Diana Burke, two mothers following two seemingly different paths. Beth (Kathleen Robertson) is a single mother to Benji, a young boy confined to a wheelchair and their cramped apartment overlooking an expressway. While Beth seems to take it all in stride, a growing desperation lurks beneath her sunny disposition. For Diana (Andrea Roth), a married mother of two with a highly successful career in advertising, life is all about keeping everybody else happy amidst the growing anxiety that she may be in over her head. In the oppressive heat of an urban summer, the lives of these two women have violently collided. And, as police officers race to their uncertain rescue, parallel flashbacks gradually bring the shards of a shattered puzzle back into focus, providing the truthful and deeply unsettling causes for the tragic effects. What ensues will change both women, together with the people they love, completely and for the rest of their lives. The film had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I found myself deeply changed by the experience. Beth and Diana's struggle stayed with me for days and more than once, and had a profound impact on my attitude and actions when I'm behind the wheel. If you've ever experienced the frustration of daily commuting through a congested urban centre, you will relate. Last Exit is a definite must-see.

They don't tell you this in the plot outline but early into this movie you realize that Murphy, of the ill-famed 'Murphy's Laws,' apparently has written himself into this script :^). As you're watching this movie, it will slowly reel you in. By the time you're 3/4 into it, you'll find yourself amazed, thinking just how good it is. But, by then, you're just scratching the surface of where this movie is going to take you. And by the end, you'll be glad that you decided to invest the time to watch it. This movie leaves you feeling. And, most importantly, you'll learn something about life and yourself from the experience because, during the movie, you'll be constantly comparing your life to the ones you're witnessing on the screen. And I bet, you'll see a bit of yourself there sometimes. This movie makes you profoundly think about a lot of things. Kudos to the director.

This is a must see film all about road rage and the causes and sometimes dire results. We read about these in the papers but this movie really spells it out. Much more suspenseful than CRASH. The two ladies in the leading roles couldn't have been better choices. Both Kathleen Robertson and Andrea Roth are spellbinding. They are superb and yet only play the final scene together and that is brief. Rounding out an excellent cast are Ben Bass as Robertson's hubby and Linden Ashby as the husband to Miss Roth.

You find yourself deeply involved with their personal and professional lives. And you care for both of them. The entire movie keeps you in your seat until it ultimately ends in the final crash scene. I was thoroughly taken with this. I also liked the young boy, Noah Bernett, who played the son to Robertson in a wheel chair.

There's plenty of dramatic moments and even some comedic moments, Robertson chasing the delivery boy through the park. But mainly it's a lesson for all of us to learn about road rage. You must see this. Thanks also goes to the writing by Russ Cochrane and superb direction by John Fawcett. Bravo.

Excellent acting by the two female leads. Sharp tension throughout. Ironic intersection of chance occurrences that is totally believable even if it is plot directed. Surprises and twists where least expected. Flashbacks and forward flashes that don't detract. Shocks that are the least shocking aspects of the fast paced movement. Strength and weaknesses in all the main protagonists. All of this in a made for TV movie. A superb plot, so well shot, so well thought through. The last made for TV movie that comes to mind that was on par for such quality all round - Duel by Stephen Spielberg. This movie is more than its parts and its final moments sum up the lack of answers that fate has for people, strong women, weak men, dependent children as the case may be .... this is a film which entertains while raising questions - most of which are never answered ... and the answers provided are almost all inadequate. Tragedy is a follower of the various individuals, parents, children, bosses, underlings ....but no one necessarily realizes or acknowledges what their lives are or what it may become. When the consequences of their actions take root, the results are not necessarily what are expected, for the various participants, and for us.