User reviews

I am very surprised "Last Night" got a rather lukewarm user rating on IMDb. From my point of view it is a movie that is very honest, if terrible in its depiction of relationships, love and faith. There were many moments, where I expected the movie to lose its momentum, where the filmmakers could have chickened out, but that never happened. Maybe too much is talked about, when some things could have been told through pictures. Then again, I found all dialog very believable. My only criticism concerns Sam Worthington's rather wooden performance. Apart from that "Last Night" really knocked me off my feet, from the beginning right until the brilliant final scene.

Rather enjoyed this film at the Rome Film Festival last night. The atmosphere of New York by night and the soundtrack itself made it worth the half an hour delay getting in! The main performances are strong, Keira puts in a surprisingly convincing interpretation as the wife who meets her previous love the day her husband is out of town with a female colleague he likes. It discusses the nature of love, betrayal, marriage and sentiment in a thoughtful way, without the usual labelling of people as cheaters and victims. It should encourage us to realise that life and relationships are more complex and that ultimately, nobody really belongs to anyone (however much we might like to think we do). It's a shame these days that we only get to see the lives of the beautiful, very well-to-do folk (in their wonderful apartments, sipping on fine wine) on the big screen as if temptation within marriage was a luxury that only the wealthy and obscenely photogenic can afford. Anyway, universal themes are dealt with well and it's good fodder for a long conversation afterwards.

"Last Night" is a drama in its pure state. Wrapped around a couple who is married for 3 years, it discusses about basic pillars of marriage and its fundamental importance and effects once shattered. The couple who values loyalty and Trust yet finds themselves in situations to be disloyal lures up in lust and desires, at time becomes helpless although they are deeply in love with each other.

Joanna Reed (Keira Knightley) is the wife who is a writer and a works freelance most of the time spends her time at home. Michael Reed (Sam Worthington) is the husband who works in a construction contract company sometimes goes out of town for business purposes. They live in a decent apartment in the city and lives normal just like any other couple with small arguments and moment of love. After attending to an office party Joanna notices that her husband is spending time with a lady friend Laura who she was not aware earlier and suspects that he has something else to do with her. After a mild argument Michael leaves town for a business trip with a team which involves Laura which makes Joanna quite uncomfortable. But for her amusement while she spends the day alone she meets her x boyfriend unexpectedly and decides to go out for dinner with him. While Michael spends time Laura and finds himself to be irresistibly charmed by her, Joanna spends the night with her past love confused and feeling insecure.

This movie is not unique. Or it does not have truly dramatic turns or twist. But it flows smooth and calmly while giving the viewer ample time to think the characters and most of the time guess what their next moves will be. More than just watching a story this is about looking in to humans and the way they behave and emotions. If I say 'Last Night' is more about feelings than a story it will be quite correct. When it comes to performances I quite admire everyone in the main roles. Keira is stunning with her looks and attitude throughout and Sam plays the confused husband with skill.

Marriage comes with thick boundaries with love and trust deeply caged in it. Yet at times that strong boundary seems to be so thin and fragile when life becomes complicated and feelings are not just words. Maybe living with the guilt of not knowing the boundaries is the toughest of all.

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Last Night is a typical movie that my girlfriend would usually enjoy on our movie date on Fridays. Romance! Another chick flick I thought. I was actually in suspense from beginning to end. What's so great about this movie is that fact that many of us could've empathized in any end of the spectrum. For a movie that took place in one day, it wasn't as obvious since each plot was meticulously thought of. In any given moment I'm expecting to guess the next scene, no cigar. What really got me is the end. The writer left us in suspense. Okay are you going to say something about the purple stilettos? I hope there's a part two. This definitely a couples movie. This movie definitely deserve a better rating than what's given.

OK, what is going on please? Here is an excellent, skilfully crafted, intelligently paced and well structured movie with a most complimentary screenplay, and it should of course be rated at 8.x out of 10. Yet, as I write it is barely rated above average. Sorry, but I have to knock myself on the head a couple of times just to check that I am now indeed only seeing 6.7 out of ten for a most excellent relationship themed movie.

I am not at all sure what is wrong with most people who've rated this movie "a notch above so so", save for the usual obvious problems when it comes to matters of 'most people'... Nonetheless, I am reminded that most people often get it right: Matchpoint was correctly rated, Two Lovers was fairly rated, Before Sunrise also got the high rating it so deserved. However, here is a movie which is every bit as excellent as those named movies, albeit being in its own inimitable way different, yet it is still currently (Spring 2011) faced with the travesty of being so unjustly under-appreciated.

Please watch this movie if the themes of modern relationships, loyalty, trust, and betrayal are of any interest to you, and you should find, as I did, that its insanely 'above average rating' is well short of the mark. For this movie is a near masterpiece as a study of such themes. The performances of the lead actors/actresses, its screenplay, direction, score, production are all first rate. Don't miss this movie if you've a brain in your head, and if themes concerning relationships are of any interest to you at all. I also rated Matchpoint, Before Sunrise, & Two Lovers very highly, in case you're wondering if my word is worth following. Then you should also find it to be worth a far more realistic 9/10

LAST NIGHT - CATCH IT ( B- )

Last Night is not a typical movie, its Artistic and sexy (more like a theater movie) about emotional intimate infidelity. Its shows how infidelity doesn't have to be physical. Sometime people commit infidelity by involving emotionally with the other person. Keira Knightley is stunning & delight to watch as always. And best thing about Last Night is we get to see her in modern setup, otherwise 90% she appeared in period movies. The cast is good but I've hard time accepting Sam Worthington as leading actor, I think he lacks the charisma & always be a Blue Avatar. This actor is really dry doesn't offer much besides stern face. Guillaume Canet Aka. Mr. Marion Cotilard is charming, it is my first time of watching him in any movie. Eva Mendes is smooth and sexy.

Last Night is an engaging movie with interesting ending, which definitely worth a watch, if you are in mode of some thing emotional.

Despite being a French film remake, I found the approach to the story quite original. The script flows easily and addresses a very real issue, which makes the characters feel relatable, plausible and identifiable, instead of just making a drama out of a crisis.

Keira's performance is exaggerated, but the complexity of trying to convey the character's feelings to the viewer is noticeable.

The ending is moving and delivers what it sets out to do. It is not about a great story of love and reunion, and that is why I think it gets so convincing, brings more naturalness, a plausibility with the marital relationship.

Last Night (2010)

You might think a movie about a couple on the verge of having affairs on the side would be good stuff just because it's so much part of life for so many of us. And this starts with the promise that our leading man and woman, Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley, will have enough nuance, guts, anger, complication, and acting prowess to make it even a little bit special.

Not quite. Knightley, away from her more usual period sets ("Atonement" and Jane Austen movies come to mind), is a really likable and ordinary girl, really. And she does have presence on the screen, lighting up and having some nuance to her expressions. She holds up her end of this set-up pretty well. Worthington, less so, for sure, though you might argue that this is supposed to be a really everyday couple, regular folk like you and me. Still, he has to make it worthwhile (or else we'll just talk to our cheating friends for entertainment).

And then there are the other halves of the potential affairs--the woman Worthington's character mostly wants but wants to resist, and the man the Knightley has previously been involved with and who she finds still provocative. But both of these secondary characters are drawn superficially and acted either without fire (Eva Mendes) or with drippy emptiness (Guillaume Canet).

Most of all, with all this cast and with expensive filming (the production values are good, the photography quietly expert--watch the careful focus at times), the story is just too simple. All we have, without giving away a thing, are these two parallel worlds, the man who may or may not sleep with this woman (who does want him to), and the woman who may or may not, etc. etc.

In fact, the main couple has a chance to really deal with their temptations, and either lying or confessing, and with maybe finding similarities in having temptation not only at their fingertips but clawing at them without respect or regard. But no, just as something might come around, there is silence. And the end of the movie. I think it's supposed to be striking and profound--that life just keeps going and we all have our inner secrets--but what's so interesting or new about that? I was much more taken with Clive Owen blowing up and really talking and thinking out loud when he found his wife, Julia Roberts, had cheated on him in "Closer."

A deflating experience after a promising start.

"What I wouldn't give to have tired of you." After a party makes her feel uneasy Joanna (Knightley) thinks that her husband Michael (Worthington) is cheating on her. The next day he leaves on a business trip, with the women (Eva Mendes). The same day Joanna runs into her past love and spends time with him. Both are tempted to do what they shouldn't. This is a movie that you have to let form. The first half hour or so is a little slow, but then it really starts to take shape and the ending will leave you wanting more. Being a man, this is not usually the type of movie that I enjoy, but I really did like this one. I would call this a more subdued version of "Closer", much less overt sex and much more subtle love. Much like "Closer" you are pulled back and forth between who you like and who you don't. Who is right and who is wrong. Who you want to root for, and who you shouldn't. Either way this is a very emotionally powerful movie that will leave you wishing there was more. Overall, I surprisingly liked this movie a lot. This is a very emotional movie that will leave you thinking. That's a good thing. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - I actually think I might.

Author Joanna (Keira Knightley) and her husband, Michael (Sam Worthington) have reached the point in their marriage which might be called a valley. Yes, they love each other but aren't connecting very well. Michael, who often travels on business, attends a company party with Joanna. It is there that Joanna spies a co-worker, Laura (Eva Mendes) who is strikingly beautiful. To complicate things more, Joanna learns she is often sent on biz trips as an adjunct to Michael. Also, something in her gazes at Michael spell trouble. As one might guess, green eyes of jealousy take hold. Once at home, Joanna tries to berate Michael for never telling her about this woman. He shrugs it off and swears he is not the cheating kind. But, essentially, Joanna is correct, for Michael does harbor some lust for Laura and visa versa. Meanwhile, a couple of days later, Joanna runs into an old flame herself. He is Alex (Guillaume Canet), a French writer who once captured her complete attention for a very brief spell. Alas, he broke it off and Joanna was stricken but changed directions, thinking it was over. Now, Alex makes romantic gestures toward Joanna and she is torn. Wasn't it just a matter of hours ago that she suspected Michael of some emotional betrayal? What will happen to these four folks? This very observant, interesting but quiet film explores infidelity between two seemingly committed marriage partners. What does it take for thoughts of adultery to start and grow stronger? Does it mean that the love between the wedded ones doesn't exist or is it just a case of physical attraction? This movie tries to answer these queries. The cast is great, for surely Knightly is one fine actress who also has the face of Helen of Troy. Mendes, too, is a sultry stunner while Worthington and the Patrick Dempsey-twin Canet are attractive, talented men as well. The scenery in and around SoHo is nice while costumes, photography, screenplay and a careful, non-traditional direction, at times, completes this winning flick. Last night has already passed, of course, but find this one for a future night very soon.

My favorite part of this movie is the dialog. Although this movie contains long dialog, however the dialog is very interesting. Many movie with long dialog but Last Night is the best. Not a boring dialog. Especially when Joanna and Michael had a fight after party, about Joanna accusing Michael like Eva Mendez's character. Another great long dialog is when Alex and Joanna was sitting in the sofa and drinking Martini. Through the dialog, audience know about their life story. So audience isn't confused.

Great choice of the character. Keira and Michael make a good pair.

One of my favorite movie to watch over and over again

Saw this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival and can say that I was truly taken aback by the brilliance of such a simple concept. The movie about a married couple amid marital temptation is very well acted and directed. The film captures the vibe of the Tribeca lifestyle and the trials of a young marriage. Sam Worthington does an amazing job as the reserved husband in love with his wife. The film is well-paced and builds to a crescendo of will they or wont they infidelities. Visually the movie is simple but the effects of overlapping pictures and conversations highlights the similarities of temptation and the differences between men and women. The story was truly amazing and the best movie I have seen in 2011.

Choices of temptation sneak their way into old loves, new loves and current loves. "Last Night" is a relationship drama where one night opens up questions and possibilities of infidelity for one married couple. The couple is Joanna (Keira Knightley) and Michael (Sam Worthington) and they are certainly beautiful and eye-catching but their relationship is not as well-defined as I think it should have been.

It follows a very simplistic storyline and it tests not only the main couple's loyalty to each other but also our loyalty to them as at least one of the temptations they face is far more interesting than either of them. I have fallen in love with French actor Guillaume Canet as the ex-boyfriend Alex. Looks aside, he was the only one who had any depth to make him more appealing. While some of the other casting, like Eva Mendes as the other woman, just seemed lazy.

I don't fault "Last Night" for picking a story that has been done before as they did try showing it in their own way. It was a beautifully realized film, performed well, and engaging enough, but it was just missing something. I think I liked it, but I needed more substance, more intrigue, and more of a resolution.

Joanna (Keira Knightley) is a writer married to commercial real estate agent Michael Reed (Sam Worthington). She meets his co-worker Laura Nunez (Eva Mendes) at a party and suspects they had an affair during their L.A. business trip. He leaves for Philadelphia with Laura while she encounters her ex Alex Mann (Guillaume Canet). Sandra (Stephanie Romanov) and Truman (Griffin Dunne) are his friends.

Sam Worthington is not a compelling actor to me. I never bought a ticket on the Worthington express. I don't find any buy-in with his relationship with Knightley. I'm not invested in them and their struggles hold no tension. It's a lot of talk. It teases a reckoning but it never delivers. It's a truncated movie about a relationship that I'm not sure I care about in the first place.

LAST NIGHT is a tightly woven tale that explores the psyches of four people in one fascinating evening. This is the initial directing outing for Iranian-American writer Massy Tadjedin ('The Jacket', 'Leo') who also created the story and the script: the film is so fine that we doubtless will be hearing more about her.

Joanna Reed (Keira Knightley) is a beautiful young writer married to commercial real estate developer Michael Reed (Sam Worthington) in what appears to be a happy marriage despite the struggle between two careers. Michael takes Joanna to a company party and there she observes the soft spoken Michael paying attention to one of his co-workers, the sensuous Laura (Eva Mendes), an act that Joanna feels indicates unfaithfulness or at least suspicious behavior on Michael's part. The seed of doubt is planted, Michael is leaving for a business trip to Philadelphia the next morning with his coworkers Andy (Anson Mount) and Laura, and there is friction between Joanna and Michael that Michael's reassurance cannot overcome. The next day as Joanna sops for coffee she encounters an old flame from her time spent writing in Paris - Alex Mann (Guillaume Cadet) - and they agree to meet that evening. Chemistry resurges and that evening as Alex and Joanna dine with Alex's publisher Truman (Griffin Dunne), both are questioned by Truman about their past affair, Joanna admits she is now married, and Alex is in a relationship in Paris. The couple leaves and circumstances lead them to return to Joanna's apartment where they face their feelings. At the same time as this evening is developing Michael and Laura enter a seduction dance: Michael is faithful to Joanna but the emotionally bruised Laura persists in her attempt to pull Michael into her web. The manner in which each of these temptations resolves and the aftermath is the brilliance of Massy's writing and direction: this is a story written very much form a women's vantage and that fact allows each of the characters to become very well defined and credible.

The quartet of actors is well matched: Knightley continues to mature as a fine actress, Sam Worthington breaks out of his stodgy shell to allow us to see a man driven by fidelity and tempted by lust, Eva Mendes takes Laura to a higher dimension of being, and Guillaume Cadet is undeniably an Alex who few women could resist: he has true star power. The method of pairing the development of the one night by flashing back and forth between the progress of the two couples in the dance of seduction vs fidelity is extremely successful. This is a thinking person's movie and an introduction of a writer/director who already has shaped the beginnings of a successful career. Highly Recommended.

Grady Harp

In fact half way through the movie I started to feel what I usually feel whilst I watch Asghar Farhadi's movies. it may be due to the fact that Massy Tadjedini (The director) is another Iranian director. I think it might be the hardship that a country is going through that provide us with such a deep view on a simple fraction of life. Iranian cinema along with Polish cinema are good tokens for this claim.