The Last Video Store

One of the criticisms both Laura and I have with any type of 'romantic' films e.g thrillers, dramas , action etc is whether the leads have any chemistry that is believable and should we, as the audience, invest in them for the duration of the film.

This sweet natured Australian comedy has two likeable and believable stars Danni Clowes and Jayden Latchum that I was invested in them from the start and really wanted to see them fall in love.

Compared to the toxic couple in 'Fair Play' these two had a future together.

The plot may be episodic and underpowered and the ending may not make much sense and felt rushed but I was not only wrapped up in these two characters but also the charm of the video store itself. It reminded me of Prettygate Video, where like minded 'nerds' like myself would congregate and talk film; much to the chagrin of the moody and short fused co- owner Matt.

Whilst I'm guilty of streaming , I miss those days...... I'll be thinking of this charming little gem for awhile.....

Firstly, I'd like to say that I loved it, with the leading actors playing a great portrayal of their characters. With the lead young male actor, I thought he was great, loved the smart comments to to his boss, back in the day when you could joke around with your boss like that.

I can relate to the boss that he loves the classics and what it was like standing in the video store for nearly an hour just to pick a movie to watch, absolutely perfect.

The leading female actor was spot on, with a tough exterior and the soft interior, she just wants to be romanced.

Wow the ending, VERY big surprise, it was well done, had me guessing all the way up to the rolling credits.

Job well done 👏

The story wastes no time getting interesting, as the plot is set in motion in the very first scene, and every single scene after that drives it forward. The characters are very likable, and the villain maintains a constant threatening presence even when not in the scene.

Toward the end it struck me how much I liked the main characters and wanted them to succeed, and it culminated in the most emotionally engaging ending I've ever seen in an indie film.

The film often uses CCTV footage monitoring the store as a lens for us to see the love story unfolding, from the perspective of another character, which I really enjoyed.

The editing, cinematography, and performances of the cast are all great, and it was always funny seeing a new fictional movie DVD case on the shelves in the background.

I ended up watching The Last Video Store for no other reason than the fact that I confused it with an identically-titled horror film that came out the very same year. Rather than watching the horror film I was hoping for, The Last Video Store is rife with overly artificial and tacky dialogue, non-sequitur gags, long periods of awkward silence relying on the soundtrack to fill the empty space, outdated character stereotypes and a complete absence of anything genuinely funny.

For a movie reliant entirely on people talking instead of things actually, you know, happening, an abundance of punishingly dull dialogue between awkward and unlikable characters. This movie comes across as Clerks fan-fiction that doesn't have a clear realisation as to why Kevin Smith's movie worked. His movie was funny, the conversations were interesting and the characters were believable, and none of that is present here.

The cast give it their best efforts but their performances come across as very amateur, the lines they're handed aren't ever funny and director Brian Vining seems unwilling to acknowledge these limitations, instead insisting on letting conversations and takes linger on for excessively long periods of time. The "story", if you could call it that, slags along without a particularly likeable protagonist. In fact, it's hard to find a particularly likeable character in the film. All in all, I got one hour through the movie before I realised that I'd just confused it with another movie and then switched it off.

This film was clearly a labour of love made with the best intentions, but I felt no love for it and it did not achieve the best results. It's a credit to the filmmakers that they got this movie made, but they just didn't find enough material to wring out of the single-location setting or to go beyond overused romantic comedy cliches when the chance for more commentary on changing times and the deterioration of the old fashioned video store was right there.

This movie features my favourite characters, such as:

Jesse Redman (Australian Jesse Pinkman) Walter Black (Australian Walter White) Australian Alan Wake

I think the characters are great I love the guy who used a ray gun assuming it's a gun, I thought it was funny how they needed a character to use a gun, so they had him put his hand in a bag and pretend it's a gun. Characters are amazing and I totally didn't only watch 30 mins of this, it has amazing writing and it's continuity is TOTALLY not ruined by the fact that they are selling a "the last video store" copy in the store.

This was the first Australian movie I watched and it's a mastuhpiece.

10/10.