Recent Reviews for Last Night
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MCT:August 30, 2008This is an interesting character piece. Some of the character work better than others in this film. Some of the actions of the characters seem unrealistic. Overall this is a good independent film.
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MCT:August 16, 2008No special effects for this 'end of the world' movie. Just a look at what these people did during the last hours.
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MCT:June 2, 2008soooo good...simple premise, no special effects as the last few hours of earth tick down....the movie really heats up as it explores human motivations, behaviors and personal interactions right up till the final countdown....this will leave a lasting impression on you!
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MCT:May 15, 2008
What would you do if the world was going to end? Bit of a bizarre film, apparently the world is going to end, bit of a weird ending, wonder if they shot each other or not.
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MCT:March 16, 2008
I think this accurately depicts what a lot of people would do in the last few hours on earth. Well done, I especially liked the last few seconds.
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MCT:March 5, 2008Awkward dialogue and scenes of urban decay is what makes up the last few hours, and it is done well. What would you do if the world was ending is six hours?
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MCT:February 24, 2008Movie about the end of the world that starts out kind of uneven but turns into something really special. The end had me choked up.
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MCT:January 27, 2008
The game plan in Last Night, an overlooked and wry Canadian treat, is that there are only six hours until the end of the world.
Writer and first-time director Don McKellar, also one of the film's stars, makes the plot gimmick an inventive jumping-off point for an exploration of humanity in a state of quiet panic. Instead of cowering, screaming or rising up against their doomsday Armageddon-like, McKellar's funny, touching and convincing characters just sort of carry on. Some want to destroy things, of course, or party all night, but most keep doing what they've always done.
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Set in Toronto, Last Night's depiction of a coming cataclysm is so unconcerned it almost turns doom into a lovable comedy of human aberration - and that's McKellar's point. We're pretty much slugs about our fates, players in a soap opera of the mundane. But people can get awfully strange facing the end of existence.
McKellar (who wrote François Girard's The Red Violin) plays Patrick, a young widower who wants solitude. But his elderly parents want to have him over for a last old-fashioned turkey dinner, and they'll give him back all his toys stored in the attic. A buddy, Craig (Callum Keith Rennie), has decided to have sex with as many people as possible. One partner is his former high school French teacher (Genevieve Bujold), correcting grammar as she departs. In the film's most inspired moment, Craig asks Patrick to have sex with him - his only way of expressing true buddy love.
Sandra (Sandra Oh), on the other hand, wants to show her own trump card against the final vaporizing moment - she and her husband plan to murder each other simultaneously as a way of determining their destiny. But since the city is largely shut down in a gridlock of abandoned cars and deserted buses, she can't get home.
Meanwhile, in a wonderful satire of bureaucratic doggedness, a gas company employee (David Cronenberg) calls customers to assure that the utility will deliver the stuff until the end. He repeats the courtesy call over and over like an insect. Then he goes home and blows his head off. -
MCT:July 31, 2007
It's been too long since I saw this. I remember seeing it very very late one night on TV here in Australia when I should have been asleep. It remains one of the more surreal experiences of my life. It's such a moving film... it's silences say so much. Sandra Oh will never be 'that actor from Grey's Anatomy' for me. She will always be 'that woman in that bizarre amazing Canadian film I saw that time'.
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MCT:July 26, 2007One of the best endings of a film I've ever seen. Quite moving. The movie's about the end of the world and how various people spend their "last night". It's not a science-fiction film--it's a character study--with some wonderful performances from Sandra Oh, Don McKellar, David Cronenberg and Genevieve Bujold (who always does such interesting flicks). If you're in the mood for something different--a drama with a bit of dark comedy and an emotional ending--then check this one out.
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MCT:July 13, 2007If you knew the world was going to end,what would you do with your last night on Earth? That is this film's question
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MCT:July 2, 2007
Apocalyptic visions can take many forms, from atomic to cosmic disaster, from cautionary tale to sardonic despair, comets, asteroids, plague. But when it comes to the end of the world, one expects fire or ice, bang or whimper. Rarely does this genre ...
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MCT:June 14, 2007Cannot understand how anyone thinks this is a good film. Must be cutting Canadian cinema some slack. Only Callum Keith Rennie is watchable. Sandra Oh is unbearable and McKellar bores. Premise is ridiculous.
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MCT:May 13, 2007
Despite its annoying on-the-nose dialogue, this feature tells an economic apocalyptic story and the human condition behind it. This movie proves that vision and creativity are ingredients to make a decent science fiction movie, not stupidity and big budgets.
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MCT:May 3, 2007
I happened across this film by accident on channel 4 - went in not knowing what to expect and was immediately gripped, this is probably the most sensible portrayl of the end of the world. No expalination is given as far as I remeber just that everyone is preparing in their own way. A brilliant character study.
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MCT:May 2, 2007
So what would you do if you knew the world were coming to an end? It's that kind of question younger friends might ask when they've had few. You know what I mean, right? Hey, Craig, this is set in Toronto. What would you do if you knew you were in the final hours of your life?
Me? I have no clue. But I can almost guarantee you that I would probably be doing not one of the things the folks in this movie choose to do. That, however, is not one of my problems with Last Night.
Now when I say I have problems with Last Night, I want to preface my grievances with this: I have seen this movie probably half-a-dozen times -- or more. In order for me to give up that many hours of my life to one movie, the movie needs to be pretty powerfully affecting. Last Night is that and then some. The final montage of the "end" for the people we've been following is very moving.
No, my problems with Last Night lie elsewhere. I'll spare you a blow-by-blow, but I'll give you two pet peeves. First -- and this is about as petty as a pet peeve can get -- I am tremendously irritated by the fact that the world ends exactly at midnight. That's right, flixster friends, the world ends at 12:00 a.m. on the proverbial dot. And I think we all know that this is exactly how nature works . . .
Okay, so that's a minor irritation. My major irritation is -- and I hate to be down on a fellow Korean -- Sandra Oh. I'm not universally down on Sandra Oh, but I am very specifically down on her here. Everyone is delivering lines in a truly believable way -- everyone except Sandra Oh. Is it her? The director? I don't think it can be the director. The directing, to me, is brilliant. If the directing truly sucked, everyone in Last Night would be acting as oddly as Oh. She's caught up in her own mind, I believe, with the "seriousness" of the end of the world, and for some peculiar reason, she feels she has to deliver all of her lines accordingly. It's not that she's over the top. It's more like she's stilted in her seriousness-ness.
Sorry, Sister Oh, but that's the way I see it. Overall, however, -- and I really mean it -- this movie is well worth the watch.
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MCT:March 21, 2007
Really good and overlooked. The end of the world film from a personal human standpoint, rather than a special effects orgy.
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MCT:January 27, 2007
Funny, poignant, and one of the best casts ever assembled. In what other film can you see the shameless derailing of a Toronto streetcar? Don McKellar's feature directorial debut features a pre-Grey's Anatomy/Sideways Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, and a humourous acting turn from David Cronenberg, one of his best performances since 1990's super-campy Night Breed. As everyone's tries to make the most of their final hours before the world ends, McKellar captures some truly human moments. Hollywood blockbuster fans beware, this is not an action flick like Armageddon. Instead, McKellar sticks to the subtle drama, focusing on the emotional aspects of various characters as they tie up the loose ends of their relationships with loved ones. An incredibly intelligent work of art.
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MCT:January 5, 2007
What would you do if this was undeniably the last night on Earth for the Human race? An interesting question and a good movie.
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MCT:January 3, 2007
A great movie. Actually a lot like I'd imagine the last few hours of the world. Somehow lonely and comforting at the same time. Great pic.
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MCT:January 1, 2007
A somewhat depressing look at the end of the world, which is nevertheless very interesting - looking at what various individuals (who are connected to one another in various ways) choose to do when they know the world is about to be distroye. Don McKellar did a wonderful job with this, and plays a very different character from Curtis on Twitch City, which impressed me.
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MCT:November 16, 2006Such a waste of time. It had a promising concept and I expected a philosophical script, but all I got was a string of pointless and unrealistic dialogue and character action. Not a single character loses his mind or has a moral breakdown. It's almost as if the ending of the world is normal in Toronto.
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MCT:August 30, 2006
Excellent end of the world stuff. Opposite end of the spectrum to retarded Armageddon explosions and stuff. David Cronenberg is a cool actor!
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MCT:July 19, 2006
It's 6PM, and the world is about to end at midnight. How will you spend your last night? The final 30 seconds of this film made me want to give it 5 stars; I was that moved. Having a few days to sit on it, it's a very powerful piece of work, incredibly original, but comes just shy of being completely brilliant. As I can't narrow down exactly what is keeping this movie from earning the last star, sadly, I can only attribute it to personal preference and annoyance at the family scene.
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MCT:July 3, 2006
The best Canadian movie I've seen. McKellar creates an end of the world movie that bleeds Canadian subtext and lacks Bruce Willis (thank god)
