Last Night Review
by Jeremiah McVay (jeremcvay AT yahoo DOT com)November 25th, 1999
Director: Don McKellar
Screenwriter: Don McKellar
Country: Canada; Year: 1999
Rating (4 star system): ***1/2
Last Night [as in the last night] begins with a Christmas dinner-- it's not Christmas. The world is about to end, however, and two aging parents have decided to bring their family together one last time just as they do every year for the holiday. They only have six hours to live and they know it.
This is more of an ensemble piece than anything else, following a group of people over the last hours of existence. We see them cope in different ways, but they all revolve around a central figure: Patrick Wheeler (played by writer/director, Don McKellar). He is the core of the film and his rather subtle performance holds most everything together. It would be a bit much
to say that everyone else supports him because it's more like all the actors/characters share the light, McKellar simply holding it a little longer. There really was not one bad performance in the bunch and none overshadowed the rest.
The main strength of the film is probably its screenplay. It's a rather straightforward script that really lets you get into each character in a way that never seems at all forced. The writing serves itself well by focusing on a set of characters rather than the inevitable panic in the streets. It probably would have been easy to let the feeling of panic that often permeates the film
overshadow the smaller events of the individual characters, something which would have upset the entire tone of the piece.
Basically, this film is about people who need things-- mostly other people. None are truly desperate, even in their final hours. It's interesting to note that, even through all the human interaction, not once is a reason given for the end of the world. It's just an accepted thing, and the entire world is, of course, changed by it and for it. This, even more so than the lack of focus on the worldwide panic, is a very intelligent choice in that it would have simply hindered the story and characters. It would have
seemed totally unnatural for any of the characters to have explained the reason for the end of the world. It was enough that it
was common knowledge amongst them; why would they have any need of explaining it to each other?
As well-grounded as the screenplay was, it could have been less so if directed differently (luckily this probably posed little problem since McKellar took on both chores). The direction simply flows. There was not one point where it drew attention to
itself, which, while not always a good thing, would simply have been a distraction here.
This was just a very fluid movie-- it never seemed to linger too long or put focus where focus need not be. In terms of
craft, it was near flawless, and, in terms of entertainment and provocation of thought, it approached a level rarely even come close to by most.
--
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