Last Will

Tatum O'Neill has the main role in this quite predictable, but well made film about a woman dealing with the wrong people and their secrets. Tom Berenger is playing her husband, suffering from some health problems.

Hayden is a well grown woman marrying into the real estate family of the Emery's in Kansas City. She discovers that her husband's brothers, which are taking care of the family's real estate properties, are cooking the books, and are bribing city officials. She gets her husband to care about what's happening with Emery Propertys. Then the problem starts.

The film is more of a TV-drama when it comes to acting and production values. But it's OK done,the leads are doing a good acting job. Berenger is playing great as a drunk! James Brolin is great also a detective Sloan. Tatum is doing well, but this might be her weakest film ever.

The film has a good nerve, and is therefore exciting, though you obviously know what will happen, just not when. But the film doesn't keep the quality. The film doesn't manage to keep acting up to notch all the was through. So the film has a consistency problem throughout. After an hour there's a completely misplaced "love music video" which tips the film completely over, just like a commercial brake. Quite ridiculous. From there the film falters. It's almost like they changed director mid through.

Hayden (Tatum O'Neill), the wife of wealthy doctor Frank Emery (Tom Berenger) discovers that Frank's brothers have been cooking their family's books. Upon exposing them, Frank is murdered. Framed and isolated, Hayden must find out the truth amid a major Midwestern trial.

Channels like Hallmark and Lifetime make these movies often; small, independent, low-budget mysteries with actors of a previous generation. "Last Will" is a similar type of film, exemplifying what can happen when a decent script and a decent budget are combined.

Tatum O'Neill does an able job as the helpless housewife thrust into the mystery of her husband; shocked that an outstanding man like her husband could do something like go to a strip club. You work through the first half hour of the film in a daze as it repeats the characters motives again and again, to try and prevent you from being surprised at twists down the road.

Tom Berenger is one of my favorite actors, but recently it seems like every film he does has the same basic formula of a bit of action, a bit of mystery, a bit of Berenger. He isn't in the film as much as I'd like but he does not bait-and-switch, either. Fans will also welcome the faces of Peter Coyote and James Brolin, heroes of a bygone era whose rugged good looks and solid support make them able additions to the cast.

If it is a cheesy, formulaic, unsurprising mystery you are looking for, "Last Will" does an admirable job at solidifying its place in the daytime cable television slot between the "Family Feud" and the News at Noon. Enjoy.

There is no point making this a long winded review.

Not only is the plot so predictable that a blind person could follow it with the sound turned off.

The scripting is as lame as can be and the acting, well I haven't seen such animated acting since watching the Woodentops as a child.

It is unfortunate that you reviews have to be at least ten lines long, I mean, just how detailed do you have to be about something that is so not worth watching.

I struggle to understand how anyone could possible rate this better than awful, there is not one actor who is worth mention at all, not even Tom Berenger.

Please don't waste your time.

Poor Tatum---she looks good but she's not really a good actress but she's as good as those awful Lifetime actresses. Cast as the wife of a wealthy man, she can't quite pull this off---and doesn't vacillate very much between very sad or angry.

In a worse position is Tom Berenger. Geez---what happened to his face? They do not have much chemistry and his acting is terrible.

In a plot with a city that's muddled---two city backdrops but we're in the Midwest? A stupid plot where her in-laws are sooo bad---one brother even has his hair slicked back.

James Brolin is in here too. He's much more likeable and skilled than the rest of the cast.

I think this movie could have been titled, "We Need a Paycheck"---lots of out of work actors needing some cash. Can you blame them?

What a load of unadulterated rubbish. Acting wooden and amateur. O'Neil desperately needs acting lessons. A far cry from when she was young I guess coke finally took it's toll. The storyline was pathetic, the directing inexcusable and the conclusion so obvious a blind man could have seen it coming.

Don't waste your time watching this poor excuse for a movie rather read a book or something or stare at a sunset it's far more rewarding. Life's too short to watch this inane garbage.

How do they get away with this? Tax write offs no doubt. I note some person actually wrote a glowing review of this movie. I guess there is no accounting for poor judgment & taste.