| WISCONSIN GUILT TRIP : Tony Goldwyn's 'The Last Kiss' [7/10] |
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| Wednesday, 18 October 2006 | |
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Whatever your view of their artistic merits (or lack of), the last two films written by Paul Haggis - Million Dollar Baby and Crash - were undeniably among their years' most acclaimed, successful and award-garlanded releases. Odd then, that The Last Kiss - which Haggis adapted from Gabriele Muccino's popular Italian romantic-comedy L'ultimo bacio (2001) - seems to be flying in and out cinemas worldwide with barely a whisper of fanfare or hype. Perhaps the picture, sometime actor Tony Goldwyn's first feature since misfiring with Someone Like You a half-decade ago, will find its audience as a DVD rental... and if so, those future Blockbuster denizens have a little treat in store. Because The Last Kiss - which stars Zach Braff as a 29-year-old architect living in Wisconsin's leafy capital Madison and wrestling with issues of commitment, control maturity and responsibility - is an unusually well-crafted affair, one that consistently dodges the pitfalls of potential melodrama and neatly deploys the multi-strand structure that can so often yield uninspired results. If anything, the picture suffers a little from being tailored as a 'star vehicle' for Braff, who presumably had his pick of projects after the success of his ever-so-slightly-overrated Garden State. As his three best friends, Michael Weston, Eric Christian Olsen and a never-better Casey Affleck all have more than enough room to flesh out their characters (by no means a visual stylist, Goldwyn is very good with actors) but Braff is very much first among equals in terms of screen-time. And while it's commendable that his character's behaviour is occasionally swinishly dislikeable (he jeopardises his long-term relationship with girlfriend Jacinda Barrett by indulging in an ill-advised fling with 20-year-old student Rachel Bilson), everyone involved might have benefitted from Braff's story being simply one among many. We could certainly have done with a little more of the subplot involving his prospective in-laws: as Barrett's parents, Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson bring added dimensions and gravitas to a film otherwise entirely populated by twentysomethings at various stages of maturity. Danner is on particularly blazing form as a woman dealing with a life-crisis that is, if anything, more painful as Braff's - although it must be said that the resolution of her dilemma is perhaps a little too pat and simplistic. Indeed, the climactic scenes as a whole are a bit of a disappoinment given the strength of what's gone before. On a more general note, meanwhile, it's regrettable that (for presumably budgetary reasons) Goldwyn shot the film mainly in Quebec, rather than properly exploit a city which is one of America's most spectacular (and, in cinema, criminally underused) backdrops. But these are minor cavils: The Last Kiss is notable for a restraint and a sheer emotional believability which Crash so notably lacked, and stands as one of 2006's more unexpected and pleasant surprises. Give it a try. Neil Young 18th October, 2006 THE LAST KISS : [7/10] : USA (USA/Can/Ity) 2006 : Tony GOLDWYN : 104 mins (BBFC timing) seen at Empire cinema, Gate complex, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), 11th October 2006 - press show
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