The Last Time

Made for a reputed $4 Million dollars and released in 2007 to theatres in the USA. This is a pretty left field film which has the benefit of some great actors with the leads particularly good, who suck you into a spiders web of a story which though the big revelation does not wholly ring credible, is none the less well worth watching. As a footnote, this smart little indie film just shows how big Hollywood so often wastes millions of dollars on unworthy projects and poor film making.Finally i thought that Amber Valletta made the film work, while she was ably assisted by Michael Keaton who has become a really impressive and very versatile actor, who has left Batman a very long way behind.

Now, this is a movie with a ton of flaws, I won't deny that but I'm not going to as nit-picky as some of the users here. Some people seem to enjoy movies but then later find flaws or plot holes or question some of the believability of scenes, then later decide they didn't like it even though they enjoyed the movie when they saw it, and throughout the course of 100 minutes, they were thoroughly entertained. Michael Keaton in this movie is such an unpredictable fascinating character that nobody can say they were bored. They may not think the performance is believable as a real person, but it wasn't boring.

I'm recommending this movie because I was entertained, simple as that. There was many problems I had throughout the film that were all solved by the end, but the ending created more problems if I took the time to think about it. But taking the time to think about it after the fact shouldn't affect my emotional response I had when the credits were rolling.

People blast movies like Sixth Sense for the same reason. By the twist ending, everybody in the audience were shocked. Their minds were reeling. They were entertained. Then, driving home, they rethink the movie with knowledge of the twist, and find all sorts of plot holes. Then they decide they hate the movie.

If you are entertained during the course of the movie, that's all that matters. Don't analyze everything and try to find problems.

...before this film hit the production level.

I SUSPECT that this script was well-done. (though I couldn't find a copy of it anywhere.) The acting is what we would expect from top-tier actors. The directing seems excellent. But I suspect that somewhere between the film getting in the can and getting out the doorway...

...someone went at it with scissors. Or a blow torch. Either way, the race to the ending seems rushed and convoluted. Parts seem to be missing. Other parts don't seem to follow in order. Some parts are just plain missing.

Gotta hate those movies that end with you shaking your head and telling yourself "What the *@$ was that?" I felt sorry for those people that worked on the movie.

I did not think that this movie totally sucked. It was a thought provoking reflection of American culture and values. It causes one to wonder how far another human being will go to make money and how easily non-materialistic individuals in a capitalistically oriented culture can be duped by sharks that will rip them to shreds like defenseless bait. One weakness of the film was its depiction of women as greedy piranhas that only seek nourishment from money not love. There were no non-materialistic female characters in the film to balance out this theme resulting in a rather over-generalized characterization of women. If one can get past this problem, the premise that those obsessed with making money will go to unspeakable, evil lengths to attempt to satisfy their insatiable greed is an interesting theme to consider. If you rent the DVD expect to be entertained, but not completely enthralled.

I had the privilege of watching this film a few minutes ago. Since my opinion is still fresh and wouldn't be influenced by anything else at this very moment (at least not dramatically), I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Yes, my summary is "It doesn't know what it wants to be", and that is it's main flaw. Director, Michael Caleo, was brave enough to incorporate numerous themes and genres into this confused work. What starts off to be your average two lead comedy, wanders off into the thriller territory, and attempts to simultaneously touch upon the Rom-Com genre. I say Caleo was brave, because he took a risk where the odds were against him. He attempted something that could have easily failed, he tried to defy the conventions of your average Comedy/Drama by reinforcing (forcing, even) innovation.

Was it a complete failure? I wouldn't say so. I've been rather generous with my '6' rating, but there were a few redeeming qualities about it. The most overt quality was mainly Michael Keaton's on screen presence. His charisma was present, as always, and quirky demeanour was reminiscent of his pre 90s career. As for the rest of the cast, Brendan Fraser and Amber Valletta were tolerable, but nothing amazing.

The twist that unravels as the conclusion was lowbrow and felt rushed. In fact, a lot of the dialogue felt rushed. There seemed to be a lot of reliance on foul language to encapsulate it's comedic elements that it attempted to implement.

I'd like to sum this up by saying that if you aren't a Michael Keaton or Brendan Fraser fan, you might find it hard to be engaged, because as a movie on it's own, it isn't very good. However, it isn't all bad, Caleo's attempt is worth having a look at. The Last Time is an unconventional Dramedy (sort of) that didn't quite achieve what it wanted to.