Last Night (1998) Reviews

• Moving, intriguing, and credible

  Arkaan2000-07-02

  I have seen this film twice, and believe that it is certainly one of the best films of 1998. One person brought that people wouldn't be violent on the day when the world ends, but come together in a type of philosophical togetherness. I was stunned by that idea, assuming that the cynicism that permeates today's culture would have enforced that idea, that violence will be around. The end of the world is a violent thought, as exemplified in films such as Armageddon and Deep Impact (true, they were stupid films). But that aside, Last Night is a powerful and very introspective look at the lives of several people who's lives happen to be interwoven on the last day of the world. It begs the question "what would you do with the final six hours". Many have remarked on the tone, and I have to heap more praise on the subtle irony that is found throughout the film. Why is the world ending? The audience doesn't find out. Whether one's appreciation of the film diminishes or grows for this ambitious step is purely personal. For a ninety minute film, it's ambition in depicting six lives is interesting, and it's only mistake. For the movie to do justice to all the characters, it needed to be at least half an hour longer. But that singular flaw does not negate the film's final achievement. The entire cast is sensational, even if they're on for short periods of time. Rennie and Oh took home well deserved Genie awards for their brilliant performances, but I felt McKellar's performance was the most intriguing. He has a talent for not poignant drama, but scenes of almost deadpan-type comedy (where Sandra asks him the favour). Don McKellar has got to be among the most versatile writers around. After writing Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, the fragmented biopic about the famous pianist, and The Red Violin, another slightly fragmented story told through and about a violin, he wrote, directed, and starred in Last Night, and apocalyptic dramedy (or an ironic tragicomedy), and he does it with supreme style. Last Night is a film not to be missed, but to be pondered over and savoured.

• Apocalypse on a human scale

  Adrian Sweeney2005-11-18

  The world is going to end at midnight; it's six pm now. The impending catastrophe has been known about for months but nothing can be done about it. Government has been wound down. There's a certain amount of mayhem, looting, and bloodshed in the streets, but most of that ended weeks ago; now people are just quietly resigned. The nature of the disaster is never specified or even mentioned, but cleverly hinted at. Sooner or later you'll suddenly realise what it must be to do with, and when you do it's a breath-catching moment. Once you notice this, the closest thing the film has to a big special effect, it becomes increasingly appalling as time goes on. There are to be no last-minute attempts to save the earth. They were known to be futile before the film begins. Instead, people calmly make preparations for their last night alive. It's a bit like wanting to do something special for your birthday. Craig (Callum Keith Rennie) is living out the four-letter answer most people would give if asked 'What would you do if the world was about to end' - as he has been, methodically and systematically, for the past few weeks. Sandra (Sandra Oh) is trying to get across the chaotic city to her beloved husband. Patrick (Don McKellar, who also wrote and directed, brilliantly) attends a last family meal and plans a quiet evening alone with a Pete Seeger record. Almost everyone else is heading downtown for the big end of the world party. Flashes of black humour help make things bearable, but I can't convey how genuinely chilling and terribly moving the film becomes before the end. Pre-millennium there were a handful of end-of-the-world films, most based around big-budget special effects. For a grumpy misanthropist such as myself, who officially couldn't care if the world was to end, even a blockbuster disaster movie like Deep Impact was a salutary experience, making me realise that I really, really don't mean that, and that for all its travails and miseries life is precious. But by excluding special effects and scientific explanations, and precluding the possibility of averting the end, and focusing entirely on the human, Last Night is far, far better and left me drained and devastated. I almost prefaced these remarks with a 'Don't watch this alone' but decided, nah, other people can be a pain when you're trying to watch a film. But if you watch it alone and late at night as I did, be warned that after the end you may feel a strong urge to make contact with one of those annoying other people, at 2 in the morning, a friend, a relative, your milkman, anyone. But watch this you must, for it's a great cinematic work of art.

• I joined IMDb to write this

  jay-4532004-11-07

  There are films that are great, but by virtue of their intelligence and understatement fall through the cracks - or go on over the years to achieve 'cult' status. Paul Auster's 'Smoke', or Thomas McCarthy's 'The Station Agent' are a couple. This is such a film, and for fans of these types of 'smarter', less 'hollywood' productions there is no greater cinematic experience than finding such a gem. This is unpretentious and real - and ultimately honest and rewarding. Don McKellar has crafted something really special.

• a film that lingers on the mind.

  marcadam2004-08-15

  i never realized how beautiful a song Guantanamera was, until i heard it in this movie. Whenever i hum the tune nowadays, i can't help but think of Last Night(and the last scene). Ihighly recommend seeing Miracle Mile, after you've see Last Night. It is as close to an American version of this film as you are ever going to see. It is almost just as good. In my opinion, the best line in the movie comes when the old woman makes the very politially incorrect statement, that she tired of hearing about the children,because they are too young to miss anything. If the world weren't ending in a few minutes, you know she wouldn't be exposing her true feelings. I loved this film, beginning to end.

• Haunting and Lovely

  wesberger2005-07-23

  I found LAST NIGHT quite thought-provoking and moving the first time I saw it and its impact on me has only grown over time. This is an amazingly sophisticated and well-executed film for a first-time director. What I find thrilling about it is both the fine balance it finds between ideas and emotional resonance and its sense of tonal unity and control. The images and music have stayed with me for years. Despite the melancholic events of the story and the sense of loss that permeates the film (after all, we are talking about the end of the world here), a mordant sense of humour and finally a romantic, optimistic heart leavens the story's darkness, without pushing the movie into cheap sentimentality or melodrama (Armageddon, anyone?). All this and only one of the most memorable closing images in modern film! Seek it out. It's worth it.