The Last Movie

A very unique little movie – at once a truly believable black and white noir film; a wonderfully entertaining drama document on remaking the noir film and finally a nifty little horror film in the vein of Polanski's Repulsion. It sounds complicated, but all these pieces fit together seamlessly in a tight view of old movies and modern filmmaking. The photography and design of the film in total keeping with the genre and beautifully done. Beyond this, it is a terrific psychological study of madness. The performance by Elizabeth Gondek as the actress is a chilling portrayal of someone falling apart piece by piece. Kudos to the whole cast and writer-director Bruce Pittman. I can only hope this is not his last movie.

I cannot understand all the other positive reviews. The movie was boring and seems like an exercise that some student had in a film school. This is a movie about movies and how they are made. The concept is not bad but the presentation was just boring. The pace is slow and not much is really happening most of the time, thought the acting was actually OK.

As the movie progresses it becomes more and more bizarre and I couldn't wait for it to end. I suspect that movie students and critics would love this movie but for all of the rest, you could probably pick a better one.

The opening half of the last movie traces the efforts of an independent

filmmaker to do a remake of a Russian thriller. It seamlessly combines healthy doses

of the original Russian film with both a documentary of the making of the film and the private tribulations the director goes through to make the film.

The last half involves the casting of a new actress to play the femme fatale in the

New film. Here is where the film becomes a psychological thriller in the tradition

of Polanski's Repulsion.

Hats off to a film that tries to be a little different from the current fare.

I was knocked out by the power of it, by the surprising way it builds and the turn it takes once Elizabeth Seitz comes on the scene. She is a fabulous actress and she completely captivated me.

I was reminded of The Black Swan, which exploits mental illness for its revulsion factor, Darren Aronofsky's forte. The Last Movie is not exploitative, but rather points a critical finger at the professional creative community who can easily push fragile creative minds over the edge. I know this happens. When Elizabeth says, "...or too much too late" we know things aren't going well.  Bruce Pittman's performance as Nick Crawley the director of the remake, adds a comic layer. All his puffy-cheeked sighs and 'Oh-boys' and bad dreams give us a peek at the ordinariness of creative work. The producer's appearances via Skype are true-to-life and specific, so we don't just see the cliché money-man ruining the precious creative vision. I love the whole discussion of female actors' beauty vs talent. And all the juicy details about movie-making, like wardrobe and lighting tests – I eat that stuff up. I found Nick's wish to make high art while doing a low-budget commercial remake of a so-so foreign film acquired for virtually no money pretty rich. This feeling works perfectly with the fact that Elizabeth is pushed towards her edge in a fairly irresponsible way by this ambitious and cynical director. The scene where Nick records his thoughts on his career is really strong. It seeds that awful flashlight-under-the-chin hallucination of Nick's face, as seen in the trailer.  I like all the sort of multimedia editing and the cutting-in of the documentary-in-the-making with all the echoes and computer screen treatments that a young documentarian would use. The way Pittman has mixed together the stylish noir photography of the Russian movie, the very current special-features doc look, and the straight realism of Elizabeth's story makes for a richly layered film that left me with lots to think about. It's one of those movies, like Shutter Island, that when you watch it the second time, it's like watching a whole different film.

I thought it was a beautifully crafted movie, a terrific genre film. I loved the overt use of "film noir" techniques. A lovely sense of style, lighting and camera angles. I loved the homage to some of the classics. It made us all feel smart.

I saw "The Artist" a few days later and they use film noir elements as the protagonist slides into depression but I think "The Last Movie" did a better job. I was totally convinced by the "Russian film" portions. It did an amazing job with locations. Nataliya Alyexeyenko's face and eyes were totally beguiling. The camera loves her. Elizabeth Gondek is not quite as compelling but she grows on you and is believable. It's very exciting when the two of them come together.

My only criticism is that the film did seem long, both overall film and pacing within scenes, especially later scenes. It is not bad in the first half of the film as it establishes style but then it just feels too slow as we approach the climax. In spite of this, I think it was a brilliant effort and a very entertaining film. Congratulations to the filmmakers. Keith Ross Leckie