One Last Thing...

This movie was actually a good film that surprised me a little bit. When I rented it, based on what I had read about it, I was expecting to see a raunchy teen flick. Instead, it turned out to be a not-bad film that balanced comedy and drama in it. In the movie, a teenager is dying from cancer. A foundation that grants wishes to dying youngsters has him appear on television to make his "one last wish," and everyone thinks he is going to ask for a fishing trip with his favorite football player. Instead, he asks for a weekend with a hot supermodel whose bikini-clad image adorns his wall on a poster. We then shift to the supermodel, who is portrayed as somewhat on the hot-tempered side and has totally exasperated her manager. The model is surprised when she learns about the wish and reluctantly agrees to meet him. After a couple disappointing meetings, the boy becomes frustrated too. I will leave the rest to you to watch to figure out what happens. All in all, this was a decent way to spend an hour and a half of your time, and I recommend it. It has both funny and tear-jerking moments.

** 1/2 out of ****

ONE LAST THING is the next film from Magnolia Pictures. MagPics is of course the distribution arm of 2929 Entertainment, which is owned by Dallas Maverick Mark Cuban.

Last year, 2929 announced that it was eliminating its movie windows and that it was essentially making its DVDs available in stores at the same time as the film's release in theaters.

Basically, if you prefer to see this movie on the big screen, you can go to your nearest Landmark theater on Friday, May 5th.

But, if you don't, you can go instead to the video store and pick it up on Tuesday, May 23rd and not have to wait so long for the DVD.

It won't be the usual 3-month or 5-month distance between the film and DVD releases. However, regardless of how one chooses to see it, I recommend that no one does.

So far, MagPics and 2929 have been putting out some great material including two great documentaries, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM and HERBIE HANCOCK: POSSIBILITIES, as well as some interesting dramas like BUBBLE and THE WAR WITHIN, so when I heard about this movie I got excited, especially since I saw it playing at the Philadelphia Film Festival.

Philly is my hometown and most of the movie was filmed there, specifically in the Marcus Hook neighborhood. The story centers on Dylan, a 16-year-old kid who is dying of cancer. Cynthia Nixon from "Sex and the City" plays his widowed mother. United Wish Givers, a Make-A-Wish foundation-type of organization, decides to grant Dylan one wish before he keels over from cancer.

At first, they think his wish is to go fishing with super star football player Jason O'Malley, but during the press conference, Dylan recants and says his wish is really to have sex with super-beautiful, super model Nikki Sinclair in her mid to upper 20s. What proceeds are Dylan's attempts to make that wish come true.

But, instead of ONE LAST THING, the movie should have been titled "The Film That Tries to Justify Statutory Rape." This film is more about taking us to a contrived destination that defies reason or believability than really giving us something honest and real. It tries to be heartfelt but really just comes off superficial and annoying.

For example, Dylan's two friends, Ricky and Slap, played by Philly natives Matt Bush and Gideon Glick, tag along when Dylan sets out to New York to score with the super model, but while Dylan is throwing up in the bathroom and is clearly becoming sicker, all his friends want to do is concentrate on sneaking into a strip club.

Wow, two teenage, horny boys with a one track mind! Haven't we seen this before? Haven't the American Pie movies been enough? Couldn't the screenwriter, Barry Stringfellow, have come up with something else a bit more original, or supporting characters with maybe a bit more depth? Also, Wyclef Jean plays a foreign cab driver. How cliché! Jean's cab driver magically drops in here and there for no real reason and his appearance seems only to add a little color to this otherwise lame white-washed world.

Ethan Hawke makes an uncredited cameo, but I'm forced to ask why. His efforts are wasted.

Michael Angarano who plays Dylan is a cute kid and potentially a great actor, but I was "so" not impressed with his performance here, and quite frankly I haven't really been impressed with any of the movies I've seen him in. He was funny though as Jack's son Elliott on the NBC TV show "Will & Grace."

But, I think there are a ton of better actors in his age group like British actors Jamie Bell and Max Minghella, Canadian import Kevin Zegers, Dane Christensen, Jesse Eisenberg, and Robert Ri'chard. Watch out for these guys in the future, all of them are amazing.

More amazing than I've seen Angarano, but I don't really blame him though. He did the best he could with what he had to work with, which wasn't much. The script here was simply senseless. Just a bad indie film! Just bad!

One of the most wonderful and touching movies i have ever seen. I am not a crier at movies, but this one got me. The cast does a phenomenal job, and despite what some say, have an excellent feel for how to handle the film's dual genre. Michael Angarano does a superb job as the terminally ill boy, and his two buddies Slap and Ricky( Gideon Glick and Matt Bush) are in a way the best part of the movie, playing likable and hormone driven best pals. Cynthia Nixon as the young boy's grieving mother gives a deeply moving performance. The on screen relationship between Nixon and Angarano is authentic and a treasure to watch. I have seen some rather harsh critique of this film, and frankly cannot fathom it.The film splices comedy and drama well, and creates a beautiful portrayal of a young boy's last days around those who are closest to him, and his last wish(ill leave you to watch the movie to find out about this). The song at the end, Wyclef Jean's "Heavens in New York" is beautiful, and devastatingly poignant.

I went to see this movie on the recommendation of a friend and didn't know what quite to expect - was it another 'teen flick' or something better. It certainly was better. It had humor but also some poignant sadness. The casting, performances, photography, all were balanced and worked well. More important, it dealt with the very real heartache of facing the loss of someone dear - something I had faced recently. The story characters displayed very 'real' reactions to the situation - not some phony approach. It touched on many of the questions one faces in this situation - ones that often strain your fundamental values. With all that, there were many good laughs. All-in-all, certainly well worth seeing and deserving of a wide audience.

The concept for this little Indie film - the dying wish of a teenager opening spiritual doors - is far from original, but Barry Stringfellow's strong script as directed by Alex Steyermark (whose only other directorial venture was 'Prey for Rock and Roll', though he has been on the crew of some very fine films like 'Pieces of April' etc) results in a far from ordinary drama. For those who have not seen Cynthia Nixon expand beyond her 'Sex and the City' role, this performance will be enlightening! Dylan (Michael Angarano) is a young teenager diagnosed with terminal cancer, a fact that he shares with his loony buddies (Gideon Glick and Matt Bush) who support him with silly but genuine companionship. Dylan's mother Carol (Cynthia) is still reeling from her husband's death (Ethan Hawke) and facing the loss of the one remaining part of her family is devastating but her strength of character keeps a positive support for Dylan. When Dylan is informed by his doctor (Brian Stokes Mitchell) that further radiation and chemotherapy are useless, Dylan places his desire for living on one last thing...he is on a TV show where dying wishes are granted, and rather than the asking for expected fishing trip with football hero Jason (Johnny Messner), he opts for a weekend alone with supermodel Nikki Sinclair (Sunny Mabrey). Nikki, we discover, has problems and demons of her own and her agent Arlene (Gina Gershon), in trying to rescue her faltering career, advises the reluctant Nikki to visit Dylan in his home in Pennsylvania - for positive PR purposes. Once they meet Dylan is determined to have his one last thing, gains money and a room (a gift form Jason) in New York and travels with his sidekicks to the Big Apple to cash in on his prize. The Nikki he finds is the wasted girl down at heels and though she feels tenderness toward Dylan she tells him to just go home. Dylan's disease progresses to the point of final hospitalization when Nikki re-enters the sad room and changes things.

The power that changes this predictable story lies in the extraordinarily sensitive performances of Michael Angarano, who plays Dylan with a twinkle in his eye and allows us to feel his burden with resorting to bathos, and the always-impressive Cynthia Nixon whose performance as Dylan's mother is the most understated and heart wrenching on film. She owns the screen whenever she is on. The supporting cast is strong (though Gideon Glick and Matt Bush are allowed to become obnoxious and would have benefited from some stronger direction). In all, this is a striking, simple, compelling film that rises well above its premise to become an important statement about death and dying and the power of hope and love and family. Grady Harp