The Last Time

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.

I usually agree pretty much with the IMDb-Ratings but in this case I find it really amazing that it only gets 6.3 points (08/07). Okay, sometimes when you don't expect too much (because of poor ratings you get surprised and tend to overrate it. I give it a perfect ten anyway. Why? This is a wonderfully drafted/crafted drama thriller with excellent acting (especially Michael Keaton). The twists are fantastic and so are the dialogue. (I envy the screenwriter and will keep track of the director's career, too!) It delivers a great insight into the everyday life of an (unsuccessful) salesman. If you loved Wall Street and have a soft spot for B movies, you will like this one even more than Wall Street. Watch it!

In my opinion. This is a very entertaining, not great, movie which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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.

Made for a reputed $4 Million dollars and released in 2007 to theatres in the USA. This is a pretty left field film which has the benefit of some great actors with the leads particularly good, who suck you into a spiders web of a story which though the big revelation does not wholly ring credible, is none the less well worth watching. As a footnote, this smart little indie film just shows how big Hollywood so often wastes millions of dollars on unworthy projects and poor film making.Finally i thought that Amber Valletta made the film work, while she was ably assisted by Michael Keaton who has become a really impressive and very versatile actor, who has left Batman a very long way behind.