Opening Day: 30 November 2006

Synopsis:

THE LAST KISS is a film about growing pains and making choices in life. Nearing his 30th birthday, marriage-phobic Michael loves his live-in girlfriend Jenna but worries that there are no surprises left in his life. Enter Kim, a vibrant college student who Michael meets at a wedding. Soon, he finds himself treading in dangerous territory; he loves Jenna, but is intrigued by Kim and attracted to both her and to the possibilities that a new relationship offers..

Movie Review:


The ‘reality’ of this supposed drama (that masquerades around as a comedy hybrid) does resonant on some points. For instance, the many instances where the couples find difficulty in expressing their true feelings, fears and thoughts. In other words, we all edit our thoughts before they reach the ears of those we care about. Truth hurts indeed.

Also, the movie expresses the notion that love is flawed (that there is no such thing as a fairy tale ending) and that relationships are not at all easy too handle. This is all well and true but the film and its characters spend too much time yelling, screaming and hollering at each other almost just for the sake of it. They don’t really set out to solve their problems but to simply escape from them. No one takes any responsibility of any kind and all the privileged and wealthy characters show their true self-centered natures. If this were a teenage romance then fine, but we’re talking about adults here. They all exhibit marriages due to convenience. There was no love to be found anywhere in this film. Even at the ostentatious charade and meaningless ‘I love yous’ in the resolving last act. It was all too depressing for me. What an utterly deceptive and offensive ‘love’ story!

The film tends to pander on and on for a boring 104 mins, with its predictable plot and resolution hinted at from the very first few scenes. This is further exacerbated by the inclusion of stereotypical and shallow supporting roles. It leads me to believe that these inclusions were merely an afterthought – indiscrete waffling and padding. Even third party Kim’s (Rachel Blison) character was not spared. Her presence as temptress is simply curious, as she is too sexy and desirable for the boring and plain Michael (Zach Braff). Why is she so insistent on having this particular male specimen? Money? He drives a $20,000 hybrid? Just because this film needs a temptress? We will never know as her character never develops and we are left wondering why she nearly pulls a Glenn Close on Michael. This pairing is just so unbelievable.

These are the same for all the characters, even Michael’s girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett). Therefore, the true weakness of this film is in the writing and screenplay, which is a pity, as it seemingly wants to touch on tough issues regarding love and relationships, but falls shy of actually exploring them. It was hard for the audience to feel a sense of connection or emotion towards the story or its ill-developed characters. Credit must be given to the actors who grasped at straws trying to find meaning in their characters. Kudos to Jenna’s parents Anna (Blythe Danner) and Stephen (Tom Wilkinson) who stole the show with their limited scenes.

It runs into complications when fitting itself into a specific genre. While ‘hybrid’ genre films are common, The Last Kiss takes itself too seriously for a romantic comedy, and its flippant, one-dimensional characters and script make for really bad drama. This is a remake of the hugely successful 2001 Italian film L’ultimo Bacio. I have not watched it, but if this film were anything to go by, I would not even bother with it.

Movie Rating:

(Pointless. Hopelessly uninteresting and depressing)

Review by Darren Sim