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Film review

Kissing the illusions goodbye

The Last Kiss may sound romantic, but it also carries a warning that promise is at the mercy of life's unplanned, unexpected incidentals.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published September 14, 2006

Late in Tony Goldwyn's unromantic dramedy The Last Kiss, someone wiser for his own mistakes tells someone who just made his biggest one: "It doesn't matter if you say you love someone. It's what you do to the people you say you love. That's what matters."

That may seem trite without seeing what various characters in The Last Kiss put each other through, a wordier "Love means never having to say you're sorry" for Generation Why Not. Age doesn't make anyone smarter about affairs of the heart, and new parenthood is no guarantee of happy endings. Temptation comes from outsiders who don't have bad intentions, only bad timing. Feelings are hurt and some may never heal.

And nothing gets wrapped up with a sunny-colored bow at the fadeout.

After a summer of bogus movie lovers failing to launch or interrupted by honeymoon crashers, The Last Kiss is a jolt of reality that may turn off moviegoers expecting the same old thing.

Goldwyn and screenwriter Paul Haggis Crash, Million Dollar Baby boldly go where patronizing filmmakers don't - into private moments when people who believe they're happy learn otherwise. Jokes are gilded with pain, and tears are what we don't want to see on these folks' faces.

The Last Kiss is perhaps a bit too complex for mainstream tastes, methodically creating a flow chart of characters representing several facets of devotion. The narrative hub is Michael (Zach Braff) and Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), the perfectly matched couple expecting a baby and not rushing into marriage. Things are still proceeding too quickly for Michael, who meets a college student named Kim (Rachel Bilson), who talks him into a one-night stand.

Michael's lifelong pals represent what their love overcame or what their relationship might collapse into: Chris (Casey Affleck) already has a wife and child demanding too much of the time he selfishly cherishes. Izzy (Michael Weston) is distraught after being dumped, and Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) is elated after being picked up by an insatiably sexual woman. Whatever you think will happen probably won't because Haggis' script never plays these people or their desires cheaply.

Romantic dysfunction isn't exclusive to people under 30, either. Jenna's parents Anna and Stephen (Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson) have been married for 30 years and emotionally disconnected for the past few. Anna walks out, seeking the man she had an affair with when her marriage soured but finding harsh news. Stephen becomes self-aware but in a subtle way, making his counseling of Michael not only surprising but richer in emotion. Jenna doesn't realize her mother's advice comes through experience but we do, making solace something richer.

Goldwyn, known primarily as an actor (he killed Patrick Swayze in Ghost), displays confidence in shuffling these miniWdramas that might escape more experienced directors. This is an actors' piece that might easily fit onto the legitimate stage, yet never feels confined by the dialogue and decided lack of action.

The cast gives fine performances, especially Danner, who gets better with age, possibly inspired to be known as something more than Gwyneth Paltrow's mother or Bruce Paltrow's widow. This is the first supporting performance this year that deserves remembrance at awards time.

The Last Kiss shares several qualities - sexually, musically - with 2004's bracing Garden State, also starring Braff. He is becoming The Graduate's Benjamin Braddock of his generation. The same reluctance to face maturity and fear of losing youth marks all three films.

Braff, showing depth he isn't allowed on the sitcom Scrubs, is a hesitant voice of poor reasoning and fast perception when he's wrong. What does he do now? The Last Kiss doesn't attempt an answer; the question is smart enough.

Steve Persall can be reached at (727) 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com

The Last Kiss

Grade: A-

Director: Tony Goldwyn

Cast: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson, Eric Christian Olsen, Michael Weston

Screenplay: Paul Haggis, based on the 2001 film L' Ultimo bacio

Rating: R; sexuality, nudity, profanity

Running time: 105 min.

[Last modified September 13, 2006, 13:03:23]