User reviews

In a big city, Beth Welland (Kathleen Robertson) is a divorced woman working as secretary in a law firm having problems with her boss and also financial difficulties to raise her ten year old handicapped beloved son Benji. On the day of Benji's birthday, Beth's life is completely affected when she is cut up by the executive Diana Burke (Andrea Roth) and misses the last exit in a highway, arriving late in her job. Meanwhile, Andrea is under pressure, depending on her presentation to an important client to be promoted in the company where she works, but having family problems at home, with her unemployed husband, two teenagers and a secret pregnancy. This incident early in the morning together with the stressed situations along their day will entwine and affect their lives and destinies.

I like to discover good low-budget unknown movies and "Last Exit" is one of the best I have recently seen. Living in a big city, driving every day, my daily life is no different from the two lead characters – I have problem with the violence in the traffic, being aware most of the time to avoid car hijack, at home, in my work; therefore, I have had a great identification with Diana and Beth regarding a hard day in a big city. The non-linear screenplay disclosing the parallel bad day of the two ordinary women is intriguing and suspenseful, holding the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. I only know the good "Ginger Snaps" from the director John Fawcett, but based on the sample of these two movies he seems to be a promising professional. Kathleen Robertson and Andrea Roth are awesome, developing human and totally credible characters. In the end, "Last Exit" is surprisingly refreshing and great and highly recommended. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Última Saída" ("Last Exit")

Director John Fawcett previously brought us the first GINGER SNAPS and THE DARK (the one with Maria Bello). Two movies I happen to like. LAST EXIT is a quite different film, but turned out a pretty solid viewing experience. Two unrelated women, portrayed by Andrea Roth and Kathleen Robertson (who finally has the chance to prove she can carry a film with a semi-leading role), are involved in a nasty car crash. The whole film consist out of flash-backs, illustrating the events leading up to the crash. LAST EXIT starts off a bit slow, but gradually Fawcett ups the pace and things get worse and worse for our two leading ladies (and thus: more interesting for the viewer).

Fawcett sets his story in a crowded, hectic city and handles a more "realistic" visual language (loose camera work from the shoulder, faster editing), so it's a bit of a break from his more stylised work in films like THE DARK and maybe requires getting a little used to at first. Nevertheless, this made-for-TV film really is worth a watch and proof that a lot of TV work these days can easily compete with theatrical releases. A decent story, a good director and fine actors work wonders sometimes. Fawcett and writer Russ Cochrane even managed to come up with a solid denouement (for which I was fearing, but ungrounded as it turned out). Check out LAST EXIT; it should leave you satisfied at the end of the ride.

This is a must see film all about road rage and the causes and sometimes dire results. We read about these in the papers but this movie really spells it out. Much more suspenseful than CRASH. The two ladies in the leading roles couldn't have been better choices. Both Kathleen Robertson and Andrea Roth are spellbinding. They are superb and yet only play the final scene together and that is brief. Rounding out an excellent cast are Ben Bass as Robertson's hubby and Linden Ashby as the husband to Miss Roth.

You find yourself deeply involved with their personal and professional lives. And you care for both of them. The entire movie keeps you in your seat until it ultimately ends in the final crash scene. I was thoroughly taken with this. I also liked the young boy, Noah Bernett, who played the son to Robertson in a wheel chair.

There's plenty of dramatic moments and even some comedic moments, Robertson chasing the delivery boy through the park. But mainly it's a lesson for all of us to learn about road rage. You must see this. Thanks also goes to the writing by Russ Cochrane and superb direction by John Fawcett. Bravo.

I can't believe anyone thought this movie was any good. It follows 2 women, only one of whom generated any empathy with the audience, and even that was a stretch and only temporary as the movie unfolds. Life's hard - we knew that, but that's no excuse for what happens.

The whole thing was senseless, completely lacking in any material that was thought-provoking and a total waste of time.

There was an attempt at character development, but it was very shallow, especially considering events which occur later on which are not in keeping with what little character development did occur.

The ending, in contrast to what some other reviewers claimed, was not a shock other than that it was put together so poorly.

I suppose if you generally like movies aired on Lifetime, this one might be for you, but as for me it only reinforces the reasons why I generally don't bother with them.

They don't tell you this in the plot outline but early into this movie you realize that Murphy, of the ill-famed 'Murphy's Laws,' apparently has written himself into this script :^). As you're watching this movie, it will slowly reel you in. By the time you're 3/4 into it, you'll find yourself amazed, thinking just how good it is. But, by then, you're just scratching the surface of where this movie is going to take you. And by the end, you'll be glad that you decided to invest the time to watch it. This movie leaves you feeling. And, most importantly, you'll learn something about life and yourself from the experience because, during the movie, you'll be constantly comparing your life to the ones you're witnessing on the screen. And I bet, you'll see a bit of yourself there sometimes. This movie makes you profoundly think about a lot of things. Kudos to the director.

I thought this film had so much potential with the two women's lives running parallel and knowing they were going to intersect. But I felt dizzy by the stress and angst of the characters. I thought what might have made my viewing experience less dizzying was that their stress could have been exposed for sure but the character response to the stress could have been more tranquil. I mean who could live their lives like that. As it turned out the ending could have been even more dire given a two hour film with little touch with reality. Yes, we all have angst in our lives, loads of it but it's a personal choice to be that blinded by it.

How does something this bad get made? The plot is simplistic and predictable, the characters one dimensional and clichéd (single working mum with disabled kid, rich corporate mole who drives like she owns the world). The camera is so jerky it made me sick. This technique has only worked for the Blair Witch, and nothing else.

A women's Falling Down, not bloody likely. D-Fens would be rolling over his watery grave.

And these positive reviews that have been posted - film crew anyone? The only realistic aspect of this garbage is how women drivers are depicted. Now there's the real drama.

I thought the movie well represented the reality of modern life. News stories on a regular basis highlight the impact of stress, poverty, and other conditions that push people to do unthinkable things. Last Exit keeps you on the edge of your seat as you watch the events of the day unfold in the lives of two very different women. The movie was not a sensational unrealistic Hollywood movie - it was very much a low key realistic look at the lives of the two women. One women is quite well off with husband and child, the other women divorced, in financial difficulty and struggling to hold a job and raise her son. The movie illustrates how one person can reach breaking point after a number of unfortunate events occur over a period of time. My wife really enjoyed the movie and so did some friends we recommended it to. Very good.

The premise of the movie doesn't promise much, but the film delivers even less. Two women are shown to have been in a car accident. Then we spend more than an hour in a flashback showing their poor driving skills and dull lives with the usual disappointments and silly (but not funny) escapades until we finally arrive to the accident. The viewer doesn't care who lives or who dies at any point of the film.

The acting is mediocre, but better than in many other made-for-TV movies. The script is not very exciting and the futile attempt to make it so with an ominous soundtrack only makes the viewer laugh. I barely made it thought the ordeal without falling asleep.

This is one of those movies that is a bit like a road movie, it moves along at a smooth pace and sort of starts, continues and finishes and at the end you think..blimey!, that may have been a lot about nothing really, BUT, I didn't once look at the clock, I didn't once leave my seat, and just watched and watched.

From the opening scene you think you know the plot, but that's the twist, you actually don't. The whole drama moves at a sufficient pace that you don't keep trying to guess the end, you just watch and learn.

This movie is a bit like a good book, you never want to turn to the last page, you just enjoy the journey and when you reach the end you feel sufficiently satisfied to pick up another.

Most people will be able to empathise with both lead characters, some days just turn out bad and every way you turn just throws up another obstacle. Although it's listed as a 'made for TV' movie, it shouldn't put you off, I've seen far worse at the cinema.

Good movie, great and plausible leading ladies.. Enjoy.

Beth Welland (Kathleen Robertson) and Diana Burke (Andrea Roth) get into a car crash on a rainy night. The movie flashes back to see the two women and their hectic day. Beth is a flustered single mom to her disabled son. She struggles as problems pile on. Diana is a high power career woman with an unemployed husband and tight money problems. Both run each other on the road until Beth has enough.

There is nothing terribly wrong but I never got invested in these characters. The back and forth between the two women does very little to build drama because I'm simply waiting for the final 15 minutes. This could have been a female version of "Falling Down" if it follows only Beth. In the end, the movie falters in the middle until some interesting reveals for the closing.

"Last Exit" is a fantastic little film that details the events of a day in the life of two very different women, whose days become inexplicably intertwined simply because of a little bit of road rage. Kathleen Robertson plays Beth Welland, a lovely young woman raising a son who is in a wheelchair, and dealing with the pressures of every day life. Andrea Roth is Diana Burke, a well-to-do woman with troubled teens and a distant husband, though she seems to be doing good for herself at work, until this fateful day.

Kathleen Robertson proves that she is a fantastic actress with the complex Beth, such an amazing performance. Andrea Roth also gives a great performance. Supporting them are Linden Ashby as Diana's husband Scott, Ben Baas, giving an amazing performance as David the father of Beth's son, and Noah Bernett, who plays Beth's son.

"Last Exit" may be a TV movie, but it doesn't seem like it, far exceeding the usual formula of tele-movies, and featuring a great story-telling sequence, with the shocking climax being shown at the beginning - then flashing back, because the events that take place during these women's day are so interesting, you're compelled to watch.

I think not only drivers (especially reckless ones) can benefit from watching "Last Exit", but almost everyone, for while driving is a major part of the film, the real-life issues and dilemmas the women face can be applied to almost anyones life. Well done to all involved.

Against a gritty urban landscape, Last Exit follows a single day in the lives of Beth Welland and Diana Burke, two mothers following two seemingly different paths. Beth (Kathleen Robertson) is a single mother to Benji, a young boy confined to a wheelchair and their cramped apartment overlooking an expressway. While Beth seems to take it all in stride, a growing desperation lurks beneath her sunny disposition. For Diana (Andrea Roth), a married mother of two with a highly successful career in advertising, life is all about keeping everybody else happy amidst the growing anxiety that she may be in over her head. In the oppressive heat of an urban summer, the lives of these two women have violently collided. And, as police officers race to their uncertain rescue, parallel flashbacks gradually bring the shards of a shattered puzzle back into focus, providing the truthful and deeply unsettling causes for the tragic effects. What ensues will change both women, together with the people they love, completely and for the rest of their lives. The film had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I found myself deeply changed by the experience. Beth and Diana's struggle stayed with me for days and more than once, and had a profound impact on my attitude and actions when I'm behind the wheel. If you've ever experienced the frustration of daily commuting through a congested urban centre, you will relate. Last Exit is a definite must-see.

First, I saw this film in Venice, Italy last August but I didn't see all of it. We went sightseeing. Finally last night, it emerged on late night television and I made a point to watch it. The two actresses who play Beth and Diana are brilliant in their performances. Their characters are far more alike than different. Beth is a struggling single mother of a wheelchair bound son, Benji, who she loves more than anything. She is having a rough day would be an understatement. Nothing appears to go right. Benji's father bought a house an hour away and wants to file for custody of him with his wife. Beth loses her job as a result of incompetence or lack of compassion. She doesn't have enough money in her bank account to buy her son a telescope so she pawns her necklace. She gets into a road rage incident which is equally her fault but then nobody appears to stop her. Diana is a married mother of two children with another on the way. She is equally having a bad day. Her husband is unemployed and they are on the verge of losing their home. Her son was caught bringing a gun to an expensive prep school and was expelled. Her daughter's needs are never quite answered. She needs a promotion to save her family and she needs to reassure her status in the business world. I didn't like the ending. The plot was suspenseful and kept moving along but I won't spoil it for others. You have to see it to believe it.

This movie actually surprised me. Multiple (well, actually just two, but who's counting?) converging threads and camera work like the "24" series combined with a realistic every-day storyline. Finally. You can actually feel the frustration in the main characters building up to right out rage. Trying to do the "right" thing, trapped in a situation they really cannot control. After endless processions of movies, where the main (supposedly intelligent) characters do the exactly wrong thing at the exactly wrong time... Someone actually had the frackin ingenious idea of showing what happens, if you're a real person in that exact situation. Why on earth did that take this long? It somehow makes you wonder, why this one never hit the box office. Maybe it's too macabre for the mainstream public.

00.

Excellent acting by the two female leads. Sharp tension throughout. Ironic intersection of chance occurrences that is totally believable even if it is plot directed. Surprises and twists where least expected. Flashbacks and forward flashes that don't detract. Shocks that are the least shocking aspects of the fast paced movement. Strength and weaknesses in all the main protagonists. All of this in a made for TV movie. A superb plot, so well shot, so well thought through. The last made for TV movie that comes to mind that was on par for such quality all round - Duel by Stephen Spielberg. This movie is more than its parts and its final moments sum up the lack of answers that fate has for people, strong women, weak men, dependent children as the case may be .... this is a film which entertains while raising questions - most of which are never answered ... and the answers provided are almost all inadequate. Tragedy is a follower of the various individuals, parents, children, bosses, underlings ....but no one necessarily realizes or acknowledges what their lives are or what it may become. When the consequences of their actions take root, the results are not necessarily what are expected, for the various participants, and for us.

I believe the moral of this story is - If you can help it - DON'T LIVE IN A BIG CITY. Even the best people on earth can have a bad day, but living in a big city where everyone is for themselves can turn anyone into road rage. People need to show a little compassion for the other guy and not live just in their own life.

This movie was very well portrayed by the two women involved. Totally different lives, totally different views, but ended up in the same situation.

I know not all people will agree and not very many will even watch the movie, but if at least 1 person stops themselves from road rage, it was worth it.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this movie moves along in a way that keeps you not only riveted and unaware of the passing of time, but also should leave you feeling the angst of the main characters.

I used to live in L.A., so this movie really hit home with me. The combination of excellent acting and well-written--and well-directed--script, makes it too easy to become steeped in the emotions of both women.

Having lived in their world, my deep empathy and understanding of the horrific day each woman is having was palpable, and created a need for some decompression time after watching. "There but for the grace of God goes me" is written all over this film. Especially if you've lived and worked in a city like L.A. After recovering from watching it, I felt a new-found gratitude that I got out of Southern California's every man (woman) for himself lifestyle--ironically the same year this movie was released.

This film is grist for self-reflection and thought about the pace of modern life in a city. It should be seen by all who get wrapped up in the daily stress and pressure from such a life, as a reminder of what is truly important in life. But also as a reminder that someone else may be having a day where their life is truly crumbling, so pause for a moment before lashing out!

the only thing missing from this movie is Pearl Jam's song Last Exit,, that would have put an ! on the movie, but i'm not docking the directors for that omission,, this was just a great made for TV movie, kinda reminds of 2002's changing lanes , except the characters are female, two women have very hectic days and are on a collision course for death, what starts out as a mom being late and having to cross town, and a producer type Hollywood girl going to the set results in deadly consequences at the end, but boy do we have a lot in between. basically one woman drives super carelessly, and cuts off the other one causing her to miss her exit, as the day progresses the situation only get's worse, and a chain reaction of bad things happens to the one girl, slowly rage builds up and presto you have maybe on of the better TV movies ever made in my opinion.

This film is excellent in its portrayal of two women who simply have, at first a bad day, which becomes increasingly worse, then tragic.

Kathleen Robertson is very sympathetic as a young legal secretary, her job on the line, as well as custody of her disabled son.

By contrast, Andrea Roth has a a high powered advertising career, is beautiful, and seems to have it all. She does have her candidacy for a promotion on the line, which is jeopardized after her car is towed. She is the breadwinner for a family of three, and finds she is pregnant at age 40.

There is a surprise ending to this story, and it is all the more tragic as it is based on a true story. In a stressful situation, it is not the situation but our reaction to it. Recommended. 8/10.

I loved this movie. Being a woman who recently experienced an emotional breakdown because of the stress of work, home and life itself, I can totally relate to what was experienced by both woman. My husband watched it with me and also understood how it all adds up. It only takes but one simple innocent incident to completely break someone down. Although, to those around us it may seem as one simple incident in reality, it is an accumulation of all the other incidents. I've recommended this movie to my friends so they can get another perspective on life. I strongly suggest all to watch it, especially women. It will definitely give you another look at life itself. It will also give you the sense of knowing you're not alone.