One Last Chance (2004)

A group of slackers think they have found gold in the Highlands.

Director:

Stewart Svaasand

Writer:

Stewart Svaasand

Stars:

Bill Armour, Bill Barclay, Jim Byars

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Armour	...	Quizmaster (as William Armour)
Bill Barclay	...	Pub Regular
Jim Byars	...	Big Jim
Drew Cain	...	Young Man (as Drew Carter-Cain)
Jimmy Chisholm	...	Harry
James Cosmo	...	Big John
Iain Fraser	...	Angus
Kay Gallie	...	Old Woman
Frank Gilhooley	...	Kev
Grace Glover	...	Nellie's Mum
Owen Gorman	...	Pub Regular
Niall Greig Fulton	...	Tommy
Jonathan Hackett	...	Minister
Lewis Kay	...	Young Fitz
Lewis Keenan	...	Colin

Storyline

Three Scottish lads (Fitz, Seany and Nellie) wonder if they'll ever leave their small town like so many of their boastful peers. The death of prospecting Old Man Tam puts a chuck of gold before their needy hands, which could be the ticket out for at least some of them. Harry, the scheming local rich guy, hears of it through his associate, Frankie the Fence, and begins a long scheme to wheedle it from Seany. Meanwhile, Fitz' retribution on a man who mugged Nellie, puts him in Dutch with Big John, an elder gangster in an adjacent city who has decided to exact a price from Fitz: £1000 or else he starts breaking one finger per week (then his arm) till the debt is paid. All the while, Fitz also struggles to put his aging and mentally broken father in a rest home (one with a long waiting list that only cash can break through). Backed into a corner on all sides, facing the problems head-on seems their last resort and only way out.

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Plot Keywords:

championship ring | friendship | ring | fools gold | soccer | 

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Taglines:

Every plan has its flaws.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK Norway

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

La última oportunidad

Filming Locations:

UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scott Three Ltd., Hero Films, Motlys

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Camera cuts after Nellie says "You're not wrong." Nellie's left hand was on his right forearm but now its supporting the left side of his face. Fitz's left hand held a cigarette while it supported his chin; now his left arm is on the bar, without a cigarette, and with his right arm tucked into it.

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Quotes

Fitz: [voice over] But just as most days were pretty uneventful - serving only to remind you just how dull life here was - there was one time of the year that positively reinforced it.
Fitz: I fucking hate Christmas.
Seany: Too right.
Nellie: You're not wrong.
Fitz: [voice over] Christmas! When every bastard who's ever left comes back for their two days of gloating, keen to tell you just how wonderful they're doing, how exciting their lives are.

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Crazy Credits

"The Filmmakers wish to thank:-" (various names shown) "And to everyone who has helped over the years - you know who you are"

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Connections

References Charley Varrick (1973)

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Soundtracks

Prologue Theme
Composed by Donald Shaw and James Grant

User Reviews

Chances of life

I talk about this every day so excuse me if I've said this before but there's a magical thing about movies portraying life as it is. It's a feeling of identification, I believe; because we all go through the same things everyday, but differently. Personally, I know how it goes with the movie because I'm from a small town, and there you hang out with the same people and expect leaving the place eventually.

Now the case of these three friends…Their town is boring, but some of them it means the whole world; because they can't leave or because they want to stay. Fitz's (Jamie Sives) dad, for example, spends the day playing cards and watching television. Fitz used to live with him but now he's with Barbara (Neve McIntosh). However, he visits and asks the same old questions: "Do you want a cup of tea?". "What did I have the last time", the old man asks. "Coffee, dad". "Then a cup of tea it is".

Questions like those are as common as the ones asked every Christmas. Fitz and his best friends Nellie (Iain Robertson) and Seany (Kevin McKidd) hang out in the bar Seany works; just to hear all the happy persons with nice cars and very happy lives wondering the same thing: "What are you still doing here?". No wonder they hate the holidays. They laugh as if the didn't care but they also have hopes, like one that comes with gold found in a crazy dead man's hand.

"They are wasters", some people may say. "A lost cause". But they know a lot, or at least Fitz does, and they're not afraid of being what they are; because in the end we are what we are. Well, one of them is, and makes some decisions trying to change it, which unfolds a series of complicated events, but if there's one thing that remains in a human being, always, is the essence. Nellie, on the other hand, is a believer, but his everyday life generates doubts in him. In the end, he makes a choice (they all do), involving a chat with a priest that after knowing he has helped desperately asks Nellie to visit him again (the town is actually incredibly deserted) and we realize that's how it goes.

It appears to be an independent work and it seems to be the first one of its director and writer Stewart Svaasand, who delivers a very promising job; keeping it real and quiet, with still cameras all around and a clear concern for the place where the piece happens. To show this, he creates a great sequence of quick cuttings showing different parts of the town. It is combined with delightful common music of the location (by Donald Shaw) that in the end becomes a major character.

The cast is, I consider, within the best and most natural this industry can offer. With Jamie Sives at the top, coming out completely different as his sad, monotone, suicidal Wilbur; and concluding a new reflexive, excited and concerned human being. He's great and I will continue with the task of watching everything he's done. McKidd, an actor with more projection and now known because of "Rome", makes a decent job in portraying the ignorant, unconfident man of the group; and Robertson finds his inhibited Nellie with the tone of voice.

"One last chance" comes as another breeze of fresh air from the United Kingdom, and it gives us another chance of hope…Hope of having good times with more movies like this one.