Last Ball

I saw this movie at the Los Angeles film festival in April, and I really must say it's probably the best movie I've seen in the last year or two. I couldn't stop thinking about it for days afterwards. The characters are so distinctive and memorable, the cinematography is lovely, and the music is really fine. If you come across this film, definitely check it out. If you've ever lived a small town, you can really relate to the film's themes, and even though it's a drama, it's really hilarious at times too. I definitely recommend it.

I saw Last Ball at the Director's View Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, where it justifiably won the grand prize for best film. This movie is really good. I so rarely see films where everything comes together perfectly, but it really did in this one. It was subtle, powerful, and funny. The nasty comments posted by "CorrGirl1027" don't ring true at all; she sounds like a disgruntled local actress who didn't get cast in the film, or she saw some other movie. "Last Ball" is fantastic, and I hope it gets distributed someday soon, since it's ten times better than most of the "indie" movies I've seen.

The writer/director of this film is from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; I'm from there, too, and I think that this film captures some of the essence of that particular place. Hastings is a small town in Westchester county; it's only about a 20-minute train ride from New York City - that's both good and bad. You see, many of the people who live in Hastings work in the city - because the town is so close to such a big metropolitan center, it means there's not much of an indigenous/local culture in the town itself. Hastings is essentially one big hill - wealthy people tend to live in big houses higher up on the hill; the tiny downtown, the train and the river are all at the bottom, as is a smallish, working-class population, many of whom hold service jobs in town. Hastings can be a very nice place, but if you're stuck there - if you can't afford train fare into the city, if you don't have a car to get to other towns, if you don't even have a ride up the hill - well, it can suck.

So, this film concerns a young man from an upper-middle-class (up on the hill) family, who finds himself living in an apartment down by the water, working as a cab driver. It's a powerful picture of the geographic and class divide of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; the question is - is this film interesting for people who are not from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York? Well, it's a pretty good movie: there are compelling characters, strong performances and some lovely, low-key cinematography, but the script is lacking - the film suffers due to its forced, exposition-heavy dialog and from its fairly predictable narrative. That said, it also has an appealingly earth-y, personal feel to it; it's too bad that this film never seems to have gotten a proper DVD release - Lord knows there are many, many worse movies that find their way into video stores...

Watching "Last Ball" I was transported right back into my hometown. I loved this movie so much, I saw it twice! So have most of my friends, and we all agree that this film is something special. Not only does it look beautiful, but the characters are drawn so vividly that I felt like I knew every one of them personally. The pacing of the movie is particularly unique, and delightful: it's languid, like the camera is as reluctant as the characters to leave a familiar but enchanting place. There is so much love, loss, humor, and hope in this film, that you are guaranteed to fall in love, have your heart broken, and make an embarrassing snort sound when you laugh before it's over!

My friend and I saw LAST BALL at the Annapolis Reel Film Festival back in February 2004...we fell in love with it. Whoever is reading this: PLEASE MAKE THIS MOVIE AVAILABLE ON DVD! I must have a copy! I've only seen it once and I feel like I've seen it a thousand times...but really, I want to be ABLE to see it a thousand times. It was such a great story, and I hope that more people have the chance to see it! I would STRONGLY recommend this movie to anyone, it's great...and I hope the movie "gets signed" or whatever it's called to become known! It was awesome! Peter Callahan...you did a great job! As did all of the actors and actresses! EVERYONE SHOULD SEE THIS MOVIE.