The Last Kiss - Movie 2006 - Review
This movie had its premiere this 15th of September. "The Last Kiss" is 115 min / Canada:104 min (Toronto International Film Festival) long and is rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.
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Facts about the movie:
LEAD PERFORMANCE: Jacinda Barrett and Zach Braff
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner and Rachel Bilson
DIRECTOR: Tony Goldwyn
WRITER: Paul Haggis
Cinematography: Tom Stern
Music: Michael Penn
Yet another remake? Let's see.
The Last Kiss opens with an announcement: Michael (Zach Braff) and his live-in girlfriend of three years, Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), are going to have a baby. Marriage, however, is still not in the cards. Michael is terrified - he's not ready to commit to a long-term relationship with Jenna, and now he has the guillotine of fatherhood hanging over his neck.
Michael, on whose good-guy appeal the whole movie hinges, is rattled enough by the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend, to be tempted by a college-age spitfire (Rachel Bilson) who simultaneously bites her lip, twists her hands girlishly, and comes on to him forcefully. Chris (Casey Affleck) makes it clear he can't stand his exhausted wife or their infant son for reasons never explained except that she nags at him, maybe because he seems to spend more time with the gang than at home, sharing in the joy of diapers. Hysteria-prone doofus Izzy (Michael Weston from Braff's Garden State) can't believe that his icy girlfriend (Marley Shelton) dumped him, and he continues to pine/whine for her, loudly. Kenny (Dumb and Dumberer's Eric Christian Olsen), who enjoys life as a freelance swordsman, freaks when the hot babe he's been fooling around with wants to introduce him to her parents.
The film doesn't judge Michael and his pals; instead, it tries to get inside the fear motivating them. They're afraid of losing the passion of youth and becoming stuck in a life of utter predictability. They don't always behave admirably. But they do act in ways that are identifiably human, which is more than can be said for a lot of screen characters.
Paul Haggis, who directed and co-wrote the Oscar-winning Crash, provides a screenplay that takes a long time to reveal that forgiveness is an essential part of any relationship. This screenplay is based on a 2001 Italian film named L'ultmo bacio. Tony Goldwyn, who directed the excellent A Walk on the Moon and is still remembered for his performance as the false friend in Ghost, helms The Last Kiss.
"The Last Kiss" began life as the Italian film "L'Ultimo Bacio." Nominated for 10 Davids (Italy's Oscar), including Best Film, and winner of five, the film had a profound effect on Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. "Two people told me about the Italian film in the same week - in fact, one was Jacinda Barrett, who would have a role in ‘The Last Kiss," recalls Rosenberg. "I thought of it as a coming of age film. When I was a kid, people faced adulthood at 20 or 21, but these kids in the movie are 29 going on 30, which I think is the new coming of age; it seems there's a bit of a prolonged adolescence today. ‘L'Ultimo Bacio' dealt with a lot of issues young people face, but no one ever talks about, or they talk about in an idealized, silly way."
"I loved ‘L'Ultimo Bacio,'" says Lucchesi, "and unlike many foreign films it seemed to lend itself naturally to an American remake. I found the subject matter really fascinating and the content seemed to have an American style to it."
Once Lakeshore had acquired the rights to the Italian film, the next step was to develop the screenplay. "Paul Haggis was really the key," adds Lucchesi. "We'd worked with Paul before on the Lakeshore film ‘Autumn in New York' and we thought he'd be perfect for this material. We were right.
Now, let's go to the music for a minute. Coldplay, Cary Brothers, Fiona Apple, Snow Patrol, and a smattering of other fashionable artists – each handpicked by leading man Zach Braff – croon (and sometimes whine) about infidelity, loss, and life-changing mistakes that target the love of your life. Sample lyrics include, "She's moving on… without you." Sentiments rarely deviate from this norm. It's a nice place to wallow on a rainy afternoon.
In the end, it's the characters who are betrayed, particularly the women. Chris' s wife is an exhausted shrew, end of story. The college girl's a siren, then a clinger. Jenna is smotheringly affectionate until she becomes a hell hound of fury. What about their fears? ``The Last Kiss" pays them lip service but it's never really interested. Whatever you say, honey.
IMPORTANT! PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS SITE BY PRESSING CTRL+D so you can come back often! Thank you.
Bottom line, why I disliked the movie? "The Last Kiss" is a movie that gives an absolute beatdown to the notion of procreation and marriage, while focusing on the problems in relationships but not the solutions. It presents committed love not as a thrill to be nurtured but a responsibility to be fulfilled.
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner and Rachel Bilson
DIRECTOR: Tony Goldwyn
WRITER: Paul Haggis
Cinematography: Tom Stern
Music: Michael Penn
Yet another remake? Let's see.
The Last Kiss opens with an announcement: Michael (Zach Braff) and his live-in girlfriend of three years, Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), are going to have a baby. Marriage, however, is still not in the cards. Michael is terrified - he's not ready to commit to a long-term relationship with Jenna, and now he has the guillotine of fatherhood hanging over his neck.
Michael, on whose good-guy appeal the whole movie hinges, is rattled enough by the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend, to be tempted by a college-age spitfire (Rachel Bilson) who simultaneously bites her lip, twists her hands girlishly, and comes on to him forcefully. Chris (Casey Affleck) makes it clear he can't stand his exhausted wife or their infant son for reasons never explained except that she nags at him, maybe because he seems to spend more time with the gang than at home, sharing in the joy of diapers. Hysteria-prone doofus Izzy (Michael Weston from Braff's Garden State) can't believe that his icy girlfriend (Marley Shelton) dumped him, and he continues to pine/whine for her, loudly. Kenny (Dumb and Dumberer's Eric Christian Olsen), who enjoys life as a freelance swordsman, freaks when the hot babe he's been fooling around with wants to introduce him to her parents.
The film doesn't judge Michael and his pals; instead, it tries to get inside the fear motivating them. They're afraid of losing the passion of youth and becoming stuck in a life of utter predictability. They don't always behave admirably. But they do act in ways that are identifiably human, which is more than can be said for a lot of screen characters.
Paul Haggis, who directed and co-wrote the Oscar-winning Crash, provides a screenplay that takes a long time to reveal that forgiveness is an essential part of any relationship. This screenplay is based on a 2001 Italian film named L'ultmo bacio. Tony Goldwyn, who directed the excellent A Walk on the Moon and is still remembered for his performance as the false friend in Ghost, helms The Last Kiss."The Last Kiss" began life as the Italian film "L'Ultimo Bacio." Nominated for 10 Davids (Italy's Oscar), including Best Film, and winner of five, the film had a profound effect on Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. "Two people told me about the Italian film in the same week - in fact, one was Jacinda Barrett, who would have a role in ‘The Last Kiss," recalls Rosenberg. "I thought of it as a coming of age film. When I was a kid, people faced adulthood at 20 or 21, but these kids in the movie are 29 going on 30, which I think is the new coming of age; it seems there's a bit of a prolonged adolescence today. ‘L'Ultimo Bacio' dealt with a lot of issues young people face, but no one ever talks about, or they talk about in an idealized, silly way."
"I loved ‘L'Ultimo Bacio,'" says Lucchesi, "and unlike many foreign films it seemed to lend itself naturally to an American remake. I found the subject matter really fascinating and the content seemed to have an American style to it."
Once Lakeshore had acquired the rights to the Italian film, the next step was to develop the screenplay. "Paul Haggis was really the key," adds Lucchesi. "We'd worked with Paul before on the Lakeshore film ‘Autumn in New York' and we thought he'd be perfect for this material. We were right.
Now, let's go to the music for a minute. Coldplay, Cary Brothers, Fiona Apple, Snow Patrol, and a smattering of other fashionable artists – each handpicked by leading man Zach Braff – croon (and sometimes whine) about infidelity, loss, and life-changing mistakes that target the love of your life. Sample lyrics include, "She's moving on… without you." Sentiments rarely deviate from this norm. It's a nice place to wallow on a rainy afternoon.
In the end, it's the characters who are betrayed, particularly the women. Chris' s wife is an exhausted shrew, end of story. The college girl's a siren, then a clinger. Jenna is smotheringly affectionate until she becomes a hell hound of fury. What about their fears? ``The Last Kiss" pays them lip service but it's never really interested. Whatever you say, honey.
That leaves poor Blythe Danner up a tree as Anna, Jenna's mother: a vibrant woman in a rage at her husband (Tom Wilkinson) for being a dull saint. Danner makes the character's righteous anger marvelous and moving to behold; she wants to tear down her suburban stronghold and to hell with the consequences. You wish the movie were about her. It isn't, though. It's about forgiving the boys.
IMPORTANT! PLEASE BOOKMARK THIS SITE BY PRESSING CTRL+D so you can come back often! Thank you.
Bottom line, why I disliked the movie? "The Last Kiss" is a movie that gives an absolute beatdown to the notion of procreation and marriage, while focusing on the problems in relationships but not the solutions. It presents committed love not as a thrill to be nurtured but a responsibility to be fulfilled.
posted by fxkingg at 2:57 PM
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