September 27, 2002
Last Night
Last Night is a movie about the end of the world.
It is not a thriller like, say, Armageddon, but rather an investigation in how
various people react, as their lives intersect during the crazy last few
hours. Wisely leaving off any attempt at explaining why the world is
ending at precisely midnight, Last Night instead gives us the
solemn last six hours of their lives. A film of real dexterity from
Canadian writer/director/actor Don
McKellar, who also plays the lead role.
Another interesting twist this movie give the end of the world theme is that the world has known about this mysterious impending disaster for several months now. What this does is to allow the film to miss the havoc the news originally creates (and is alluded to in several places), and instead concentrate on the final 6 hours, beginning with Patrick Wheeler's "Christmas" dinner at his parent's house. Like Moms everywhere, his Mom has special fond memories of Christmas, and drags out pictures, old films and even old toys to give away one last time. Patrick, however, is buried in his own melancholia, having lost his much beloved wife recently to cancer, so he doesn't really mind losing everything else to the end of the world. He just wants to get away and meet the end by himself.
But there are several other characters whose orbits intersect each other in fanciful ways. There is Patrick's old high school chum, who is determined to have sex in as many different ways before the end, creating a shrine to his efforts. These conquests include their old high school French teacher, played, somehow fittingly, by Geneviève Bujold, from which a very funny scene ensues when Patrick shows up and they both casually slip into the student / teacher role.
Disturbing Patrick's attempt at solitude is Sandra Oh's Sandra, who is just trying to get home so her and her recent husband can fulfill a suicide pact. Patrick tries to help her but they spend the last hours together, due to the chaos on the streets. Sandra wants to get to know Patrick more deeply, to give her final hours more meaning, so she insists that he "hurry up and and tell me something to make me love you."
Also in the movie are Sandra Polley, from The Sweet Hereafter, who plays his sister just out to celebrate the end of the world party in downtown Toronto, and Duncan (who may or may not be the husband that Sandra is trying to get home to), a gas company beaurocrat who spends the last day methodically calling all his customers assuring them of continuing service (played by director David Cronenberg of all people!).
Last Night was a very likable and believable movie, although I think perhaps the chaos would be more excessive if this should ever happen. I also wondered if it happened at midnight all over the world, in a sort of rolling catastrophe, or if it just happened to work out that way in the Toronto time zone! But the characters were amazingly well rounded, for there being so many and yet so little time to see the all, and in such extenuating circumstances. The movie was funny and touching, and the ending was done just right. Unfortunately, the DVD was both bare of extras and in pan and scan rather than wide screen. But still, give this movie a shot and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Last Night
Don McKellar, Sandra Oh
Party like there's no tomorrow... because there isn't. Posted by jdarnold at September 27, 2002 09:30 AM
