Last Kiss
Monday, 23 Oct 2006 12:33
Michael risks it all for one moment of passion
Directed by Tony Goldwyn, out now in cinemas, starring Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, running time 119 mins.
In a nutshell…
Late-20s relationship crisis. Searching for more.
What's it all about?
A group of friends fast approaching 30 are experiencing early mid-life crises and questioning life and what it means. We have Michael (Zach Braff) who thinks his life – complete with beautiful girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), baby on the way and high-flying job - is perfect but just a little lacking in surprises. Chris (Casey Affleck) is married to Lisa (Lauren Lee Smith), has a young son but is contemplating walking out on it all because he's "had enough of being told I suck at everything". Izzy (Michael Weston) has just broken up with the love of his life ("I took that b**** to her prom") and wonders what's left for him. And Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) may be sleeping his way through most of the women in his area, but what does it really mean?
This is a movie about thinking you know what you want but then getting a little scared when you look at your life and realise all the pieces are already in place. And what do you do when you get the chance to throw that life into chaos for one night with a nubile young student? Walk away or find yourself falling for the allure of a sexy brunette just to see what you're missing out on? The latter obviously. And then you get found out. And think about what you've done. And realise how crazy you've been to risk throwing everything away.
Who's in it?
Braff plays Michael, who falls for Kim (Rachel Bilson) and lets his worries about the future justify his rendezvous with The OC siren's sexy character. His performance is OK but not on a par with his role in Garden State and his major downfall is that it's just very hard to believe what Kim would see in him. He's not that good looking, he's not that exciting and he certainly doesn't have the apparent appeal that would make someone who looks like Bilson spot him from afar and within moments offer herself on a plate for him. For her part, Bilson pulls off her move from the world of sunkissed teenage TV angst admirably, although her little-girl-lost act wears a little thin after a while.
Barrett shines as the woman who has seen her life ripped apart by her man's indiscretion and arguably has the character the audience can most empathise with. Affleck is one-dimensional while Weston is predominantly hysterical. The acting in general is adequate for the film but there is perhaps just not enough to play with in the script, which is a shame as it promises much on paper. Crash writer Paul Haggis toils with the original Italian screenplay (Gabriele Muccino's L'Ultimo Bacio) to reasonable success for the Hollywood audience, but you are left with the feeling that something is missing.
As an example…
Jenna's dad Stephen (Tom Wilkinson) to Michael after the consequences of his playing away begin to dawn: "What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to the people you love. That's what matters. That's the only thing that counts."
Later in the same conversation, Michael: "I'll do anything."
Stephen: "Just do whatever it takes. You can't fail if you never give up."
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Haggis has already been lauded for his screenplay in Crash but it is unlikely that he'll get a second Academy call for this effort. None of the actors really stand out, although Barrett gives her best performance to date and suggests she has firmly left her Real World beginnings behind her.
What the others say
"This script, anaemically adapted by Crash Oscar-winner Paul Haggis from a hotblooded Italian film of the same name, is a slog. Director Tony Goldwyn tries for the lyrical melancholy he brought to A Walk on the Moon, but as Michael waits for days on Jenna's porch getting drenched (as irritating a scene as any in recent cinema), only the most rabid chick-flick fan will fail to notice that it's the movie that's all wet." – Rolling Stone
"The ever amiable Braff's limited range actually works for the character in this portrayal of masculine denial, leaving the real acting chops to the explosive Barrett as the wronged partner. But the cushioned yuppie milieu somehow takes the edge out of the drama. Relatively compelling at the time, it's just a bit too glib to resonate for much longer afterwards." – Time Out
So is it any good?
Firstly, a word of warning. Don't go to see this film if you are in your 20s or early 30s and in a sort-of-serious relationship, unless you are prepared for the inevitable soul searching about whether anyone can be truly faithful. Michael represents the male that cannot resist temptation when it slaps him around the face, even if it has ruinous consequences. It's a simple theme and one which never threatens to be all that revelatory.
The film meanders along at a sedate pace without ever really getting going. Thankfully we are spared the everyone's-happy ending that at some points seems on the cards, but it remains too complete a circle to come over as authentically true to life. Braff inspires little in the way of empathy and Bilson is too much of a made-for-film cliche. The scene when she tries to give her older lover a CD of her favourite songs including the one that played "the first time we danced" does little for the credibility of their relationship and comes across as fake.
Last Kiss is watchable and from time to time amusing, but just a little too angst-ridden to ever achieve its purpose. You are left not really caring whether any of the male characters, except possibly the oft-downtrodden father Stephen, finds happiness, but you don't have an overwhelming desire for them to get their comeuppance either. Neither writer nor lead actor really sizzle. It's no Crash for Haggis and no Garden State for Braff.
6.5/10
Martin Ashplant
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