Le dernier signe

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!

I thought at first that this movie happens in France, because of this green country, old mansion and french actor. But, it is located in Canada that gives me another reason to make a trip there.

The story is not original because a love story beyond grave has already been told in "Ghost" or "Always". But, here, the entire movie relies on the performance of Andie and she's excellent as always. It's not a common thing to have an actress of her age being the focus of an entire movie thus her fans (like me) should be happy.

In addition, it's has been a great pleasure to see again the wonderful "Lois" (Margot Kidder) past her middle life too. She is always so dynamic, mindful and her voice will be forever unique.

However, the script would have been better written because Andie is unfortunately very passive: She witnesses very strange things but never show reaction except fear and anguish and keeps all for herself. This isn't very believable.

At last, the movie is called the "Last Sign" and if I have seen signs, I wonder which is the last because none struck me very much.

A weak and incoherent premise. Made worse by poor acting - especially from the male "love interest", who delivered his lines with such a boring, monotonic voice, it's hard to believe he cared about being alive, let alone the troubled heroine. The "special effects" were non-existent. The kids in the family were much more upset than one could believe they should be given how long their father had been dead. Finally, Andie McDowell has never been a great actress. She should have stuck with modeling. In fairness to her, the script was so bad, I don't think even Merryl Streep could pull off a convincing portrayal of this half-psychotic grieving woman. And why Tim Roth would waste his time on this project is beyond me.

I got this as a free movie from Blockbuster because I rented another first-release one. Even being free, it wasn't worth the time it took to watch it. And that's saying something for me. I usually can watch even the most tepid, unpolished Independent movie yet find something worth while in it. Not this one.

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" )