The Last Kiss Review
by Clint Morris
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Can’t image there’d be too many aching for Zach Braff’s Last Kiss,
but you know what? It ain’t as bad as it sounds. Moist, Effective and
long lasting, it’s a cinematic snog that won’t leave you with a cold
sore.
Directed by Tony Goldwyn (A Walk on the Moon),
the ensemble – you’d think the way it was advertised it was merely a
three-hander with Braff and the two females, Jacinda Barrett and Rachel
Bilson - comedy/drama fixes on a group of interconnected people, all at
different stages in their lives, who are questioning their
relationships.
29-year-old Michael (Braff, of Scrubs
fame) has just discovered he’s about to become a father. Despite being
in a happy relationship with Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), he’s still
confused and scared – and you can’t blame him, all around him is the
evidence of break-ups, miserable couples and messy marriages – and it
leads him to stray. His life will never be the same.
Throw in a
young man (Casey Affleck) whose struggling to raise his newborn son
because of the unhappy marriage he and his partner are stuck in, a
husband and wife (Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner) in desperate need of
a spark, and a buddy of Michael’s (Eric Christian Olsen) whose
commitment-phobic– and there’s enough knotty wool to untangle by films
end (or is it?).
Though it does have some good messages and most
of it plays very ‘real’, the good stuff here lies within the
performances, much more so than Paul Haggis’s somewhat off-kilter
script – which is well, somewhat tilted, and a little under-written.
Braff gets to do some pretty heavy stuff here; and though he never
sways too far from ‘J.D’, he still proves he can handle the shift in
genre. Better is Jacinda Barrett, who is absolutely beautiful and
totally believable as his distraught girlfriend. Rachel Bilson (The O.C) is also convincing as the pint-sized sexpot with plans to help Michael flee from the trapped life he thinks he’s in.
A remake of the Italian film L'Ultimo Bac, Kiss
isn’t a feel-good film by any means. In fact, in many ways it’s a tad
pessimistic. But for playing it real, and not giving into fluffy film
conventions, the movie is all the better for it. Sure, some are going
to despite Braff’s character by the end of the film – because of what
he does – but that’s the price Goldwyn’s prepared to pay to keep the
film as credible as possible. I’ve gotta admit, I started to really
dislike the guy too – how he could do what he did to such a wonderful
girl; and the soon-to-be mother of his child – but as the film
progresses, we slowly piece together why he’s done what he’s done. It
ain’t right, but it’s clearer. And it’s true.
Pucker up to a film to a real relationship movie – something that offers as much heart as it does love lessons. 3 out
of 5 The Last Kiss
Australian
release: 8th February,
2007
Cast: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Tom Wilkinson, Blythe Danner
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Website: Click
here.
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