The Last Thing He Wanted

I always check the rates on IMDB before watching a movie in streaming. However this time I followed my wife's decision because she said it was "my kind of movie": political drama/thriller. Big mistake. Terrible script, robotic performances from Hathaway and Afleck. Willem Dafoe was a wasted talent on this one. Do not bother.

I really wanted to like this movie because the trailer was great and it set the bar high. About a third of the way in I said to my wife, "what the hell is going on?" She didn't know either. Another third into the movie and I repeated the question, which went unanswered because my wife was asleep. Bored by the meandering plot lines that never seem to unite. So, I wasted a few hours of my life watching this but the good news is my wife got an hour or more of decent shut eye.

Dee Rees, the director of the much acclaimed "Mudbound", offers up her second Netflix collaboration - "The Last Thing He Wanted", a crime thriller based on Joan Didion's novel of the same name. The cast includes such stars as Anna Hathaway, Willem Dafoe & Ben Affleck, also Rosie Perez and Toby Jones. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently a whole lot.

"The Last Thing He Wanted" is, in a certain way, an annoying experience. Its main strength are the acting performances, the highlights include a content and contained lead performance by Anna Hathaway and a well fitted supporting role for Willem Dafoe. Rosie Perez and Ben Affleck were good as well, but, frankly, they weren't given enough to do to really stand out. It's a mildly frustrating watch because the star-studded power seems wasted on an otherwise weak and confused movie. Or rather the story and screenplay. I can only suppose it's an unsuccessful adaptation of the aforementioned novel. Visually, "The Last Thing He Wanted" is shot very well (and uses a peculiar aspect ratio, but with no complaints), looks and sounds like an above average Hollywood-type thriller. But all of that only matters so much on the background of the script which feels like a lot of things and almost none of them are good - it's disjointed, unfocused, doesn't stick together, doesn't carry the weight it should (I'd take a guess though that the filmmakers think otherwise) and just disappoints altogether. While watching I felt like each scene is somehow to be taken on its own terms, every time the previous one didn't feel important much anymore. What I'm trying to say is that a rather simple story telling has gotten all tangled up here and it's a huge black shadow hovering over "The Last Thing He Wanted".

Despite the quite enormous flaw/s, "The Last Thing He Wanted" possesses one or two redeeming qualities. I'll go ahead and assume, probably correctly, that this movie is going to be a bore to a lot of people, but if the viewer commits, it's possible to squeeze out an eyebrow-raising evening 5/10, which is the most I can give it with a clear conscience.

Nope, the 5th grader's screenplay would be better!

"The Last Thing Anyone Wanted" should've been the title of this film. What was seasoned writer and director Dee Rees on when she wrote and directed this, and did no one else proofread this convoluted plot ridden excuse for a screenplay?

Ugggh, 2 hours of my life I'll never get back! Watch the trailer and you've seen the entire movie - and the trailer makes more sense than the movie if that tells you anything. What a waste of talented actors. A shame this will be a thorn on their resume, I hope they got paid well. NOTHING in this film made any sense. The only thing I got out of this film was to take up smoking; Hathaway was successful in advertising cigarette smoking.

The only reason I'm not giving this film a 1/10 is +1 for the actors and +1 for the producers not posting fake/paid reviews - yet. Thus it's a 3/10 from me

I just have no idea what the story is about. I don't even understand what the leading characters are doing, or indeed who they really are! The events are confusing, and the characters are poorly developed.