The Last Man

What if you were one of the few people left on Earth, and you found a lone hot chick and you were a sloppy balding dufus? That is the premise of The Last Man. Witty writing and painfully true characters make this film a unexpected treat. But one warning, if you are that fat, balding dufus, you will be miserable through out the film.

I totally enjoyed the resourcefulness and cleverly successful writing and casting of this film. I suppose those words imply the appearance of a 'low budget' film -- but I will swing it in the other direction as the disappearance of a 'low budget' film into one that delivered an expertly crafted experience to the viewer.

My only complaint, if I am entitled one, would be the abrupt ending, as if one simply disconnected a video player before the ending.

But then, that was the point.

I watched this with my wife tonight and she couldn't understand why they would choose to live in a mobile home in the desert if they were the last people alive and could live anywhere they wanted. I said it was his home and he had all his stuff there. Also, whatever killed everyone might be more prevalent in the cities and the cities would reek of death. Your average home might have at least 3 or 4 bodies decaying in them which would leave most neighborhoods smelling pretty bad. And water and electrical services would tend to stop fairly soon after the collapse. But we all know that it was an inexpensive set and being out there, you didn't have to worry about people stumbling on to the set or planes flying by. I enjoy these kinds of movies with Vincent Prices' THE LAST MAN ON THE EARTH, and ON THE BEACH being dismal masterpieces about the end of civilization as we know it.

THE LAST MAN is more light-hearted than most of these types of films and the psychology here is good and believable, though the effects of being the last man are far better shown in the aforementioned films. This was a fun and intellectual waste of ninety minutes and better than most of the mindless drivel on t.v. like Big Brother, Blind Date and other crap programming that seems all the rage these days.

For those people who have said "what an original movie"......NO! I saw the trailer and thought it looks like one of my faves (THE QUIET EARTH) and gave it a chance - what with my love for apocalyptic tales. Boring....unfunny....a really poor remake of a truly original, thought-provoking work of brilliance from New Zealand. I felt sorry for Jeri Ryan..... Spare yourself the boredom....rent THE QUIET EARTH if you like the premise, trust me it will be better than renting THE LAST MAN.

Banal, unfunny musing on post-apocalyptic schlephood, brightened only by the appearance of the always-photogenic Jeri Ryan. Slick production value can't disguise the trite premise. If you were the last man on earth and this was the last movie, you might take up solitaire.