The Last Great Wilderness

This starts out looking like a run of the mill road trip film then suddenly you realise it's tripped into Wicker man territory. Well worth seeing, especially if you're familiar with the atmosphere in the highlands of scotland as its full of subtle references to the attitudes of the location, which really ring true.

In a way it's a one actor movie but Alastair Mackenzie does well as Charlie, although for anyone who's seen Monarch of the Glen it's difficult to stop seeing him as Archie. That being said the supporting cast, the usual suspects from the scottish luvies, do well too.

Overall a delightful, well observed comedy on the nature of escapisim.

A good attempt to do something different. Has a weird, off-beat feel to it, and the community hidden away in the highlands is well drawn. The cast do well in fleshing out their characters, and there is a sense of foreboding and melancholy that slowly creeps up on you. At first I wasn't totally convinced by Charlie (Alistair McKenzie)'s journey as a character, until he's wondering through the woods and finds an old rusty trampoline. With nobody around, he's free to bounce up and down on it like a kid. This sounds a bit dumb, but it was really quite effective - you really got the sense of a guy finally being able to open up and enjoy himself. Good stuff all round, well directed, moody cinematography, deserves to be seen by a wider audience. .

I don't want to say this is a bad film because I think I was expecting too much from it. A couple of reviews had lead me to believe it was similar to 28 Days Later and Dog Soldiers (Both of which I really enjoyed).

The film began well enough and I think it is an interesting idea. However, by the closing credits I was left underwhelmed, disapointed and most importantly confused.

Maybe there was some signifigance to the ending but if there was, I sure didn't get it.

Despite this, I would say it is definatley a film worth watching.

What? A British movie without any diamond Mockney geezers or slumming luvvie thesps? A British movie that dares to tell an interesting and for the most part unpredictable story about - gasp - recognisable, likeable characters? Is it a ghost movie? Is it a thriller? Is it STRAW DOGS? Is it THE WICKER MAN? No - it's something else, is what it is - most of all, a throwback to the days when the British film industry (quiet at the back there, stop sniggering) could make quirky, intelligent, movies that exemplified style and originality, not just an excuse to pollute the screen with stereotyped by-the-yard Britflick blah. Danny Boyle did it with 28 DAYS LATER, and this film does it too - check it out. As Joe Bob would say.

"The Last Great Wilderness" was touted as both a horror movie and a thriller, especially with its poster and DVD cover featuring Alistair Mackenzie toting a shotgun. Suffice to say, Mackenzie's character is wearing a dress at the same time as carrying the shotgun, which is as good an indication as any of the film's rather insane trajectory.

It has an obviously improvisatory feel - when one character makes a confession about the nature of his fantasies, it's hard not to imagine that this really is the first time that the other actors have heard about it (which makes the scene work very well). Other reviewers have already nailed the wayward charm of this cracking movie - though it meanders through any number of genres, with signposts for a dozen other movies, what holds it together is its vicious sense of humour. Worth seeing for the overwhelmingly sinister atmosphere, some superb performances, and an entirely unexpected and shockingly tender love scene which instantly makes the usual Hollywood soft-focus look irredeemably artificial. It's not without flaws, but "The Last Great Wilderness" is nevertheless rivetting, and hopefully not the last great independent British movie.