You know, normally when you have a good script and excellent
actors on your project, you can turn out something decent, good or
great...even when you, as the director, believe you're talented and
think you know what you're doing. But so far as "The Last Time I
Committed Suicide" is concerned, Stephen T. Kay flat out ruined
this movie, and it is damn near unforgivable.
Here we have a screenplay filled with some of the most wonderful
dialog you can imagine being delivered by a troupe of wonderful
actors. Thomas Jane gives a star making turn as Neal Cassady,
and he is backed up with a startlingly naturalistic and cozy turn by
Keanu Reeves as his drunk buddy, Harry. But could you enjoy the
beautiful rhythm of their work? Noooooooooo. By God, Mr. Kay
was going to remind you every step of the way that he is
DIRECTING this film and you are going to pay attention to that fact,
come hell or high water.
I mean, here we have a quiet intense drama about a charismatic
man who inspired people like Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg,
and the director uses every trick in "The MTV Bible of Pseudo
Filmography" to hide that fact and (supposedly) make it palatable
for the ADD generation. You got your jump cuts and edits every .9
seconds and odd angles and pretty inserts and on and on and on
until I finally wanted to scream at the screen, "Take a F*****G
valium!" Drama has to unfold; it cannot be force fed down your
gullet because the man making the movie thinks you're too easily
distracted to give a damn about the characters.
I've only seen one other movie where the director completely
destroyed a wonderful script -- "A Chorus of Disapproval"
(although if "While You Were Sleeping" had had any other actress
in the lead besides Sandra Bullock, it would also fit in this cursed
category).
So...if you like your drama spit out in food fight fashion, then this is
the movie for you. But if you want anything approaching reality,
check out something like "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini, who
has more style in his right pinkie than in all of Stephen T. Kay's
body.
