The Last Time

I did not think that this movie totally sucked. It was a thought provoking reflection of American culture and values. It causes one to wonder how far another human being will go to make money and how easily non-materialistic individuals in a capitalistically oriented culture can be duped by sharks that will rip them to shreds like defenseless bait. One weakness of the film was its depiction of women as greedy piranhas that only seek nourishment from money not love. There were no non-materialistic female characters in the film to balance out this theme resulting in a rather over-generalized characterization of women. If one can get past this problem, the premise that those obsessed with making money will go to unspeakable, evil lengths to attempt to satisfy their insatiable greed is an interesting theme to consider. If you rent the DVD expect to be entertained, but not completely enthralled.

Before reviewing this film, let me state that I don't think there's another actor who can create as much interest and tension as Michael Keaton. I often wonder how different the career of this beyond-brilliant actor would be if he had played the second Batman. Anyway, The Last Time is Michael's film. He looks great, he's thin, he's complex and he's outwardly cold. Which makes you wonder why he would put up with so many of Brendan Fraser's flaws, even if it meant getting to romance BF's beautiful wife, Amber Valletta. The story was for the most part compelling, though I wasn't totally comfortable with not knowing what the corporation actually made (Was I supposed to?) and why Daniel Stern was so hilariously freaked out. Near the end,the film took an emotional dip which led one to guess the ending before one should. Despite many flaws in logic, I think this was a fascinating film and would recommend it to anyone. My main complaint is what it always is: the swearing. Not because I don't like swearing, but it's always those false Hollywood-type vulgarities that everyone uses in the film, but very few men employ in real life. How do they come up with these sexual-scatological-homoerotic/phobic and ultimately silly curses. Try using any one of them at a business office, and you'd be out the door or on the carpet. Good film. Good performances. However, Michael Keaton, deserves to be in much more important films.

Now, this is a movie with a ton of flaws, I won't deny that but I'm not going to as nit-picky as some of the users here. Some people seem to enjoy movies but then later find flaws or plot holes or question some of the believability of scenes, then later decide they didn't like it even though they enjoyed the movie when they saw it, and throughout the course of 100 minutes, they were thoroughly entertained. Michael Keaton in this movie is such an unpredictable fascinating character that nobody can say they were bored. They may not think the performance is believable as a real person, but it wasn't boring.

I'm recommending this movie because I was entertained, simple as that. There was many problems I had throughout the film that were all solved by the end, but the ending created more problems if I took the time to think about it. But taking the time to think about it after the fact shouldn't affect my emotional response I had when the credits were rolling.

People blast movies like Sixth Sense for the same reason. By the twist ending, everybody in the audience were shocked. Their minds were reeling. They were entertained. Then, driving home, they rethink the movie with knowledge of the twist, and find all sorts of plot holes. Then they decide they hate the movie.

If you are entertained during the course of the movie, that's all that matters. Don't analyze everything and try to find problems.

After browsing through some titles online on Netflix, I watched The Last Time on a whim. Lately I've been enjoying romances and I also work in sales, so I thought this might be an interesting film for me personally. I wasn't expecting too much since the ratings are rather mediocre and I had never heard of this movie, but I am glad I gave it a look.

Michael Keaton is absolutely brilliant in this movie. He is the top salesman for a company and is driven by an inner rage that makes him successful. He is forced to take the bumbling Brendan Fraser under his wing and the fun begins. Keaton is great fun as this confident jerk who tells it like it is. His relationship with Fraser and Fraser's fiancé, however, pulls on Keaton's inner demons and he begins to change. I think the description of this film is best left at that.

The Last Time is a nice little psychological thriller with a touch of romance added to the equation. It is definitely worth a look. Rating 8 of 10 stars.

Michael Caleo's background in writing for television shows in this flimsy little flick that despite a solid cast comes across as tired retelling of the bad guy to good guy to bad guy sequences. There are some good one-liners in the film, with a script that is so peppered with the 'f' word that it is crippled by it, but the story has been done before and much better and this time around the 'twist' is obvious from the film's opening lines.

Goofus-doofus Midwesterner Jaime (Brendan Fraser) has moved form Ohio to New York with his gorgeous girlfriend Belisa (Amber Valletta) to join a sales company whose chief salesman is foul mouthed, ill tempered Ted (Michael Keaton) who appears to loathe everyone and the world. Jaime is assigned to Ted, but Jaime's level of intelligence borders on idiocy and his fate with the company seems doomed...until Jaime introduces Belisa to Ted...and the romantic fireworks start. Ted falls for Belisa and begins to change his outlook, confiding his inner spirit as a professor of English literature to Belisa. A transformation takes place and as Jaime spirals downward while Ted and Belisa's affair ignites, role reversal happens as a not at all surprising plot unfolds.

Michael Keaton is a fine actor and makes the best of this mouthy role, but Brendan Fraser's talents are completely wasted - a hint from the start that all is not as it appears... It is a mediocre movie and even if the audience doesn't turn off the soundtrack to rid the script of the trashy language, it can become insulting to the intellect. But again, Keaton helps it float. Grady Harp