The Last Sign

Okay...I admit it, it wasn't Citizen Kane. But thanks to the people who did the sound in this movie, it isn't even Citizen Le Bihan. Why oh why would you hire a fabulous FRENCH actor who is PLAYING a FRENCH engineer and make him sound like he's from Ohio?? It doesn't make sense. Like much of this film. The concept was good...widow of a great guy/rage-aholic creep keeps sensing and seeing him everywhere. Strange happenings abound. She lives in fear. Her children's lives are turned upside down. Mom desperately needs a wonderful, caring man in her life to help heal her and her children. Bingo...wonderful, caring guy materializes. The happenings increase. What's going on?! How will this turn out? Will she reject the wonderful, caring man or will they all live happily ever after?

GREAT actors--GREAT concept--GREAT locations. Not-so-great execution, dialogue, special effects. And just plain BAD dubbing of an extraordinary French actor. HINT to the sound department--in the future, remember this: if he's French, and he's SUPPOSED to be French, it's OKAY if he has a French accent!

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")

I took this movie out of the library free, so at least I didn't waste any money. The acting of all characters was unbelievable. It made me feel it was the directors' first directing job. There are a lot of loose ends that are not explained but by reading the reviews on this web site I now understand things better. Thank you IMDb. I know I did not fall asleep during the movie but that was how I felt since it seemed I missed something. It is not the worst movie I have seen but I definitely could have used the time in a more rewarding way. For some reason I missed picking up on the fact that the husband was an abusive alcoholic. Also whenever the two main characters were together I felt uncomfortable because it was embarrassing to watch such bad acting.

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" )

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.