lomelasz Review of The Last Shot

The Last Shot (2004)

Quite good but should have been much better

[5/10 · 15 May 2005]

I decided to rent this mainly because of Toni Collette and Calista Flockhart but I don't mind Matthew Broderick or Alec Baldwin. It's from the writer of Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal (both films that I really liked) so I decided to give it a whirl. One word to describe how I felt by the time the credits rolled would be unsatisfied. Yes, the film, although at times very subtly done, has some hilarious moments (for instance when Calista Flockhart starts cursing at a kennel of dogs threatening to kill them). Also, as always, Toni Collette is a hoot as is Joan Cusack. But the film's main flaw is poor plot development. The film has virtually no twists and the outcome is something so simple, you can smell it right at the start of the movie. For me, the film ended too abruptly and way too short (the version I saw was 83 minutes long). Alec Baldwin is good as always as is Matthew Broderick but Ray Liotta is completely and utterly wasted (he's only in the movie for about 5 minutes) and if this was the movie that Calista Flockhart thought could be her comeback then she was sadly mistaken because although every scene she's in is an utter delight, her absence affects the movie at times. Joan Cusack is great as always but as I said with Ray Liotta is completely wasted (she's in it for even less than 5 minutes).

I don't know. Maybe my expectations of this film were too high but all I know is that the film had looked so promising from the outset but really didn't have a lot to give. However, for the few funny moments it has and for brilliant acting from the cast, it earns a 6 but for the dismal attempt for laughs before the film comes to a complete standstill, a point is deducted which gives a final verdict of: 5 out of 10