The Last Kiss

The Last Kiss (2006)
Dir: Tony Goldwyn
Starring: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson

I had wanted to see this film for months. It was one of those films that comea long every so often where I am desperate to see it and I watch the trailer about 50 times and find out every single thing about it and feel thoroughly irritated that I don't live in America so I could watch it sooner. Other examples are Mean Girls and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Luckily, these films didn't disappoint me and are now two of my favourite movies. But back to The Last Kiss...

I can't decide what I thought of it. I really can't. I certainly liked it, but I can't decide how much.
While I figure out what I actually thought of it, I'll tell you the plot. Michael (Braff) is 29 and in a long-term relationship with his girlfriend Jenna (Barrett) who has recently become pregnant. However, like all commitment phobic guys, this thoroughly freaks him out. He's not entirely sure he wants to settle down and have a family and a house and a boring middle-class lifestyle. But can't tell his girlfriend of course, because she's, well, pregnant and it's probably not the best time to bring up stuff like that. Anyway, he has three best friends who each have their own storylines: Izzy (which I always thought was a girl's name, but whatever) has recently broken up with his girlfriend and wants her back, but she's not having it and so he decides to take a road trip to South America. Good for him. He drags along Kenny, who has been having a time time having a wild affair with a girl he meets at a certain wedding (more about that later) until she wants him to meet her parents and he freaks out. God, these men are such scaredy cats. Lastly is Chris, who is married and has a baby son but whose wife is constantly yelling at him and telling him off and he an't stand it anymore, so he leaves her. Selfish bastard. Actually, everyone in it is pretty self-obsessed.

Oh yeah, at the same time, Jenna's parents are having a crisis but nothing really happens with that. OK, well, at a friend's wedding (mentioned earlier) Michael meets a pretty young college student named Kim (Bilson) whom he is rather entrances by and kind of arranges to see her again. They... do some stuff.... and Jenna finds out and you can guess where it goes.

Zach Braff is very good. Not a noticeably amazing performance but very believable. That's one thing about this film, it's very believable. At least I thought so anyway. My favourite character was Jenna, and I thought Jacinda Barrett gave the best performance as well. She is very good at screaming and yelling hysterically, which Jenna, poor thing, does a lot. The only other ting I've seen her in was Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and she doesn't have a very big part in that. But I will look out for other stuff she's done.

Rachel Bilson is also very good. Her character is a wicked little minx! She like, seduces Michael even though he has a girlfriend and totally leads him on. She's not actually evil, but we don't like her as mich as we like Jenna, OK, because she causes all these problems. The character is a bit like Summer from The OC, but as I said, a wicked little minx.

The three guys (Kenny, Izzy and Chris) are all good, Casey Affleck (related to Ben?) as Chris gave probably the best performance of the three. Jenna's parents, Anna and Stephen (played by Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson) were excellent, in that established-very-famous-older-actor way.

One thing that kind of annoyed me was that none of the stories are ever really resolved. I mean, Kenny and Izzy keep talking about South America, but we never find out if they actually get there. And Michael and Jenna's story is left pretty open-ended, but I think you're meant to assume something (I won't give it away).

It's not quite up to the standard of Garden State (well, it wasn't written or directed by Zach Braff) but it's solid and extremely interesting. About 70% depressing and 30% uplifting. Depressing because it's basically about five different relationships breaking up. I thought it was very realistic though, and well-made. Do I want to see it again? Yes. Do I want to own the DVD? Um, probably. Will it be one of my favourite films? Um, probably not. But maybe. Who knows?

A-

Talliestar

(There are two quotes I like from this film. Neither are funny, but I'll post them anyway!)

Stephen: What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to the people you say you love... that's what matters. That's the only thing that counts.

Kim: The world is moving so fast now that we start freaking long before our parents did. Because we don't ever stop to breathe anymore.