Last Weekend

I saw this film at the KCET screening in Santa Monica and loved it. Too few films explore the intimate lives of women at all, not to mention women's lives after their children have flown the nest. The strong performances, nuanced story and beautiful scenery make for a powerful film.

Patricia Clarkson (Celia) is a mother on the brink, struggling with the realization that her two sons are no longer children. Her sons have become adults, and Celia's own transition begins. Patricia Clarkson does a pitch perfect job in playing a character who can be abrasive, unsympathetic (and quite funny), but by the end, a transformation takes place, one that humanizes all involved.

As a woman who is NOT rich, my material life may be far from spending summers at Lake Tahoe, but all the material wealth in the world can't buy peace of mind for Celia. To focus on Celia's financial privilege misses the point - the film explores more nuanced questions about what we want out of our lives, and how to navigate changing times and identities - something all mothers can relate to as their children grow older.

What I most appreciate is how the movie explores life after children without fear of being too critical or sentimental of either the mother or the children concerned. Real life is not so sanitized, so cookie cutter. The film uses humor to expose some of the darker sides, but eventually finds emotional transformation and cathartic release.

Celia's two sons & their assorted friends and significant others, the family's neighbors and other Lake Tahoe relations come together in a beautifully-directed ensemble. Even the lake itself, steady and calm while emotions rage around it - becomes a character whose texture imprints on the whole. Judith Light appears for a few side-splitting scenes, leaving a strong impression as Celia's next-door neighbor & frienemy. To see these two veteran actresses in the height of their talents is a rare delight.

How do we navigate through life's inevitable - and not always welcome - transitions? Can we let go of the illusion of control? Can we find peace - and even the ability to laugh at ourselves? Ultimately, Last Weekend provides a moving answer to these questions

A piercing snapshot of a family weekend at Lake Tahoe that reveals the ennui, self-infatuation and arrogance of an affluent family. In this setting we meet the matriarch, Celia Green, who's beauty and spirit has imploded in a self-created maze of material objects and unreleased creativity. She undergoes a subtle yet powerful transformation that affects her family and future. Viewers who want fast action won't find release in this film. However, those sensitive souls who never tire of studying human behavior and don't mind facing the starkest challenge of parenthood, to those rare viewers I highly recommend this little pearl. You will surely find something to think about.

I really enjoyed this film.

It gracefully portrayed a very real family dynamic set within self aware and humorous class commentary.

Patricia Clarkson gave the perfect performance as a mother coming to terms with a new chapter in her life while absurdly fighting it along the way. She plays a character I can definitely relate to. A hybrid of my grandmother and mother-in-law. As a mother of young children, I can see myself having the same feelings when my children become adults.

The acting is wonderful, the scenery and photography are beautiful. It is equal parts bitter and sweet with bits of comedy interspersed.

Loved it.

A wealthy family gathers for a final summer weekend at their beautiful stone home on Lake Tahoe. Mom (played with her patented elegant glow by Patricia Clarkson) and Dad have decided to sell. Things are not boding well for this family gathering. One son has been fired from his job with a financial firm over an expensive clerical error. He arrives in a bad mood and everyone puts up with his insufferable, whiny behavior. The other son, who is gay and works in the film industry, has brought a friend with whom he is forming an attachment that doesn't quite feel like a relationship, and invited a female movie star friend. He is simply embarrassed by his mother's shallow, acquisitive behavior (at one point, Mama plunks down a considerable amount of money on artsy farmer's market things). Nobody is connecting in this family. Mom is a snob. Dad is remote. The kids bicker and look awkward. Throughout the first two-thirds of the film, I wanted to strangle Mom and the kids. But the skill of the actors are what keeps you watching. When there is some sort of sea change in the family, they become a little more likable. But I'm never quite sure why. At the end of the weekend, the son doesn't tell his mother about his work woes, and she doesn't tell either son that she's planning to sell their beloved summer home (though there is some doubt that this will actually happen). I suppose the family games will continue. This is a very well-made film with a strong cast, goo direction, excellent sets, good camera work. Did we need to have the trio from Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE yet again (this has to be the fourth time I've heard it used on a soundtrack). The film's faults can be directed at a very weak screenplay. I'm not looking for a tidy denouement, but I do rather insist that things make at least a little sense.

I apologize for this review but this movie left me flat. "Last Weekend" is about a Labor Day weekend with a rich family at their Tahoe summer home. There's mom, dad, two grown sons, their significant others, and perhaps three more house guests thrown in. They're all staying in the fabulous family home on the shore of pristine Lake Tahoe. The movie's a slice of life from this wealthy family's songbook. Like most families, there's a familial core slathered with dysfunction. There are always things that family members don't like about their parents and siblings. I just had a hard time finding a single sympathetic character in the entire ensemble, which is a shame because this is a cast of very capable actors. I just didn't find the story to be up to their abilities.

If you want to know whether rich people have the same problems as everyone else, this movie's answer is "no." They show little appreciation for the spectacular lake, the surroundings, each other, or the impressive summer home. I couldn't find anything to engage my interest or my sympathy. This movie reduced me to simple observer. At the end of the film, I don't think any of the characters were significantly changed. Perhaps that's what happens in real life, but it's not what I look for in a movie.

We saw this movie through the San Jose Camera Cinema Club. It was the last film of the club's 2013/2014 season. We look forward to the next one.