Adorables ennemies

Actress Shirley MacLaine has had quite a career – and an interesting life. She was ahead of her time in being a very independent-minded career woman… and developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. She had a decades-long marriage which ended in divorce, but produced one child, a daughter. In her later years, she has remained active in trying to shape her legacy, which is clearly seen in her 2017 comedy-drama "The Last Word" (R, 1:48). Advertising executive Harriet Lauler has had quite a career – and an interesting life. She was ahead of her time in being a very independent-minded career woman… and developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. She had a decades-long marriage which ended in divorce, but produced one child, a daughter. In her later years, she has become active in trying to shape her legacy, which is what the 2017 comedy-drama "The Last Word" is all about. Now, art-imitating-life parallels aside, playing Harriet serves to remind us how busy MacLaine has remained, on screens big and small, even as her 70s drifted into her 80s – and what a singular talent she remains.

"Control is very important to Harriet," one character observes. That's an understatement – and an incomplete one too. Not only has Harriet Lauler (Shirley MacLaine) always exerted control over as many parts of her life as possible, she was always been very disagreeable as she did so. Years ago, she angrily quit the ad agency that she helped to found because she didn't like how one of her clients conducted a focus group. She once told her gynecologist(!), "When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you." Her parish priest even admits, "I hated her. So much." These days, Harriet's retired. She lives alone in her big house and exerts her brand of rude control by chastising her gardener for trimming her hedges from top to bottom, instead of from bottom to top, as she has instructed him, "many times" he admits with a sigh. Then, when she reads someone's obituary in her local newspaper, she finds something else to control.

Harriet visits the paper's offices and asks the editor, Ronald Odom (Tom Everett Scott), to introduce her to the obituary writer, Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried). Sitting behind Ronald's desk, Harriet gives Anne the assignment to write her obituary now, so she can be sure she'll be satisfied with what will be published about her in the newspaper after she is gone. Ronald tells Anne that Harriet had been a great friend to the paper when she did ads for Ronald's father and implies that she might remember the paper in her will. "Make her happy," is Ronald's simple instruction to Anne, who reluctantly gets to work. The problem is that there just isn't much to say about Harriet beyond her past career accomplishments – and Anne can't find a single person to say anything nice about her – even from the list of names that she received from Harriet herself. Naturally, Harriet is dissatisfied with Anne's first draft – and tells her so.

Harriet has read a number of obituaries and determined that there are four things that make a good obituary: a loving family, the respect of co-workers, touching the life of someone who needs a helping hand and… a wild card, something unique in the life of the deceased that provides the proverbial icing on the cake. Harriet knows that Anne won't write anything about Harriet that is not truthful, so she gets Anne to help her "shape a legacy". Without giving away how all of this shakes out, I'll just say that this journey puts Harriet and Anne in touch with Harriet's ex-husband (Phillip Baker Hall), Harriet's estranged daughter (Anne Heche), a former co-worker (Joel Murray), an at-risk youth (AnnJewel Lee Dixon) and a charming disc jockey (Thomas Sadoski). And as the two women work together on Harriet's unusual project, she does some unwelcome, but well-intentioned meddling in Anne's personal life as well.

"The Last Word" is a relatively original and very well-done genre film. Sure, it's formulaic, but movies use formulas for a reason. The real question is whether the film tells its story effectively and this one definitely does. The script from Stuart Ross Fink (writing his first feature) creates a fresh take on the trope of examining a life not-so-well-lived and gives us interesting characters. The excellent actors bring out the nuances in those characters and director Mark Pellington ("Arlington Road", "The Mothman Prophecies") gives the film a great balance of comedy, drama, life lessons and just plain fun. The film's ending may be predictable, but getting there is a very rewarding experience. Movie Fans (especially fans of Ms. MacLaine) will likely be thankful that, with other projects in the works, this film won't be the last word in Shirley MacLaine's stellar career. It also makes us look forward to much more to come from the talented Seyfried, the spunky newcomer Dixon and rookie writer Fink, with this impressive debut. This great mix of well-established talent with others just starting out makes for one enjoyable film. "A-"

Harriet Lauler (Shirley MacLaine) is an opinionated controlling rich old lady. She's retired after running an advertising company. Her family is estranged and nobody likes her. After OD'ing on her meds, she starts being concerned about her obituary. She hires newspaper obit writer Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried) to write one for her.

After talking to the at-risk girls, the story end point is more than obvious. There is also an obvious route for this movie. It's two great actresses on a road trip to self-discovery. Shirley MacLaine has made a career out of this character. This movie just needs some good writing. The writing is sometimes good standard stuff but sometimes gets clunky. The two leads usually are able to work out some good chemistry but some scene falls completely flat. For example, Anne is on a date when Harriet confronts her about her writing. It's an important moment but the date keep budding into it. He's a third wheel who keeps causing them to drive off course. Then there is the main third wheel, the little girl. She's the quintessential sassy black girl. She gets overshadowed despite the movie wanting her to be the breakout star. Harriet's reconnection with her daughter ends with a weird fake laugh. The audience is just like the other characters, looking at Harriet side-eyed. At the end of the day, I just want this to be better. The writing needs to be better.

Shirley MacLaine did a wonderful job. That is it. The movie in itself was predictable and they of course had to throw in a little kid that was quite annoying. But Shirley MacLaine was great!

Anyone that did not like this movie must be brain dead. I am not into long reviews, so I will make it short. Shirley MaClaine has still got it, she is funny, heartwarming, and lights up the screen. The story is charming, music is great, and it makes you feel good. I recommend this movie wholeheartedly. I hope you have a chance to see it and enjoy it like I did.

SUCH a wonderful movie, it's pretty inspiring and you're definitely going to cry (some tears will be happy). Couldn't picture 3 more perfect people to represent the leading ladies. It's hard to explain to other people why they should watch a movie and feel the things that you feel while watching it. But I kind of think that's a lesson from this movie. Feel however you want, do what you want, but "make it matter".