2008 Woodie Awards
Kiss me, I'm Zach Braff
The Last Kiss is good, but not feel-good
Deanna Cioppa '07
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Upon leaving The Last Kiss this evening, I struggled to reconcile the sinking sensation in my gut which had persisted for the past two hours with what I was fairly certain had been an excellent film. How is it that even now, as I write this, I feel depressed and demoralized? The only answer I can come up with is honest filmmaking from start to finish.
The Last Kiss was an uneasy blend of Garden State (surprise, surprise) and Closer, without the former's sticky naiveté and latter's anti-pretentious pretension. I say 'uneasy' because, from the start of the film, struggle after struggle after conflict after tragedy is layered upon the characters and-thanks to some wonderfully believable acting-the audience as well.
The screenplay is a remake of a 1999 Italian film called L'Ultimo Bacio. The story centers on an average couple, Michael and Jenna (Zach Braff and Jacinda Barrett, respectively), who seem to have it all, plus a baby on the way; however, is having it all enough for Michael? When a younger woman (the O.C.'s Rachel Bilson) begins to show an interest in him, Michael must choose between a future "with no more surprises" and the unexpected that comes along with a new romance. Or can he have both?
Michael's struggle is by no means the only conflict in the film. Every character or set of characters is faced with a choice to make-and every choice carries painful, burdensome consequences. The central question put forth seems to be, "How do you make a happy life with the person you love?" or perhaps more aptly: "Is love enough?"
Of course, these questions have crossed the silver screen hundreds of times. I have yet to find a film, however, that has attempted to answer the question so completely and, as I said before, so honestly. Each character's reaction to his or her situation is at once completely organic, and yet also somewhat idiotic. There were no synthetic airs, no epic undertones. Wrong choices (and right ones) were made for exactly the reasons they are made in real life.
The Last Kiss was an uneasy blend of Garden State (surprise, surprise) and Closer, without the former's sticky naiveté and latter's anti-pretentious pretension. I say 'uneasy' because, from the start of the film, struggle after struggle after conflict after tragedy is layered upon the characters and-thanks to some wonderfully believable acting-the audience as well.
The screenplay is a remake of a 1999 Italian film called L'Ultimo Bacio. The story centers on an average couple, Michael and Jenna (Zach Braff and Jacinda Barrett, respectively), who seem to have it all, plus a baby on the way; however, is having it all enough for Michael? When a younger woman (the O.C.'s Rachel Bilson) begins to show an interest in him, Michael must choose between a future "with no more surprises" and the unexpected that comes along with a new romance. Or can he have both?
Michael's struggle is by no means the only conflict in the film. Every character or set of characters is faced with a choice to make-and every choice carries painful, burdensome consequences. The central question put forth seems to be, "How do you make a happy life with the person you love?" or perhaps more aptly: "Is love enough?"
Of course, these questions have crossed the silver screen hundreds of times. I have yet to find a film, however, that has attempted to answer the question so completely and, as I said before, so honestly. Each character's reaction to his or her situation is at once completely organic, and yet also somewhat idiotic. There were no synthetic airs, no epic undertones. Wrong choices (and right ones) were made for exactly the reasons they are made in real life.