Last Orders (2001)

78% of critics liked it
(88 reviews)
64% of users liked it
(2,847 ratings)

Australian filmmaker known for such classics as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Six Degrees of Separation, Fred Schepisi tells this story about a group of lifelong chums coming to terms with their friend's death, based on a prize-winning novel by Graham Swift. When Jack Dodd (Michael Caine)… More Australian filmmaker known for such classics as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Six Degrees of Separation, Fred Schepisi tells this story about a group of lifelong chums coming to terms with their friend's death, based on a prize-winning novel by Graham Swift. When Jack Dodd (Michael Caine) passes on, his three best buddies (Tom Courtenay, Bob Hoskins, and David Hemmings) along with his son (Ray Winstone) carry out his last wish -- to have his ashes cast off the pier of the seaside town of Margate, where he and his beloved wife honeymooned and where he hoped to retire. As the group venture to the coast in a large black Mercedes, they reminisce about their younger, wilder days. Eventually, they end up in a pub where, in a haze of beer and tears, secrets are unveiled. Meanwhile, Jack's wife, Amy (Helen Mirren), visits the mentally disabled daughter that Jack refused to acknowledge. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: Fred Schepisi
Written By: Fred Schepisi
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 15, 2002 Limited
On DVD: Aug 13, 2002
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

David Stratton, Variety
Delicately handled and superbly textured, this fine adaptation of Graham Swift's Booker Prize-winning novel deals with all the really big subjects: love, friendship, death, life.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Gathering its forces slowly, this careful, thoughtful film, quietly but deeply moving, is dramatic without seeming to be.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
A movie I loved on first sight and, even more important, love in remembrance.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
The film, like its characters, is limited by a provincial self-absorption.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
It's a small movie about ordinary blokes, and yet it poses some of the big questions that have vexed philosophers for ages.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
The joy of Last Orders is its pub talk, the Cockney joking and provoking style of banter, and the extraordinary group of actors who bring the characters to life.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
Schepisi always handles actors sympathetically and here he has a perfect cast, most of whom can draw on their own and their parents' experiences.
Mark Halverson, Sacramento News & Review
[A] classy but dry, lackluster trip down memory lane...
Alan Morrison, Empire Magazine
Ambitious in structure and casting, it packs a lot into its screen time. Quality craftsmanship for a discerning crowd.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
One of the most rewarding and authentic depictions of/tributes to the Cockney way of life in recent years.
Michael Dequina, Film Threat
By film's end one feels as if they have indeed taken a long trip with these people -- and along the way has grown to know and care about them.
Tom Grealis, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
'Last Orders' has class stamped all over it.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
By film's end one feels as if they have indeed taken a long trip with these people -- and along the way has grown to know and care about them.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Fred Schepisi's latest film is based on Graham Swift's Booker prize-winning novel and has a great cast, but is ultimately rather slow moving and dull.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Old people will love this movie, and I mean that in the nicest possible way: Last Orders will touch the heart of anyone old enough to have earned a 50-year friendship.
Mark Palermo, Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Fred Schepisi's tale of four Englishmen facing the prospect of their own mortality views youthful affluence not as a lost ideal but a starting point.
Jason Clark, Matinee Magazine
You'd think a movie with Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine, Helen Mirren and Tom Courtenay couldn't be all bad, but you'd be wrong.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Last Orders nurtures the multi-layers of its characters, allowing us to remember that life's ultimately a gamble and last orders are to be embraced. It's affecting, amusing, sad and reflective.
Jeffrey Bruner, Des Moines Register
Portrays the unvarnished nature of friendships: mean and spiteful, petty and begrudging, needy and loving.