What did the makers of this film expect? It comes out after a great film like "Dead Man Walking" and the comparisons that were thrown at it were inevitable. Story starts out with a young lawyer named Rick Hayes (Rob Morrow) who with the help of his successful brother John (Peter Gallagher) gets a state appointed job and is given the case of a female death row inmate who is only days away from her execution after 12 years. Hayes goes to the prison to meet Cindy Liggett (Sharon Stone) and what he finds is a very angry and cold person who would rather be executed than get life in prison. Hayes thinks he can make a case with evidence that was not used in her trial but getting Cindy to cooperate is tough. One of the reasons for Hayes working so hard on this case is to prove to his brother that he's a good lawyer and wants to come out of Johns shadow. The film is directed by the terrific Bruce Beresford and technically its a well made film and their is some good use of lighting in certain shots that remind us that some real talent is involved in the making of this picture. But the story just fails and one of the reasons would be of course that it comes out after "Dead Man Walking" is still very fresh in everyones mind. Also, I'm not one of those persons that think that Stone is a bad actress. I think she's very good but can she carry a film all by herself? For the most part, no!. Especially when the film is at a disadvantage like this one when it desperately needed a major box office draw to save it. Stone is very effective when she's not the center of the story. More than just a character actress, but not by much. The character that Stone portrays in this film is also one that is hard to feel anything for. You don't hate her and you don't root for her either. So the viewer is left with a very hollow film and when its over you can't think of one memorable scene. In a film about the death penalty you would think that their would be plenty of very emotional scenes. But when its over, its hard to think of one. The makers of this film really needed to think hard about what they were getting involved with instead of rushing a product into the theaters to try and capitalize on the success of another film. One thing did stand out for me as I watched this. How short is Rob Morrow? Everyone in the film towers over him, including Stone who is no giant. Wasted effort.
Review of Last Dance
