'The Last Word'(2008), starring my mate Winnie and one Wes Bentley (of 'American Beauty' fame), I read the description on IMDb.com, it went a little something, actually, exactly like this:
"A man (Bentley) who makes his living composing other people's suicide notes enters into a romance with the sister (Ryder) of a recent client." Hmmmm, I thought!
I added it to my favourites so that I could go back and watch should the mood take me, anyway it did, I've just watched it, and now I'm writing this.
Bentley plays Evan
I must say that this was the first thing i've enjoyed seeing Wes Bentley in since 'American Beauty'. Probably because his character in this movie is pretty much an older Ricky Fitz! Evan is a loner, poetically deep, interesting and intriguing
Had an abusive father
Yadda-yadda-yadda.
Evan writes suicide notes (hence the title: 'The Last Word') for clients who've contacted him through his website. One of Evan's current clients is a guy called Abel, played by 'Everyone Love's Raymond's Ray Romano.
I've never seen Ray Romano play any other character before and I really enjoyed his performance in this film. Abel's friendship with Evan grows during Evan's developing relationship with Ryder's character Charlotte.
I never knew this movie existed before this weekend, and everything in it is subtle and yet achieves maximum impact.'The Last Word' is unpredictable, funny, honest and sad. Well it's not very sad per say, considering it's main theme is death! But for a piece which walks hand in hand with suicide it is actually quite light, yet not at all offensive or disrespectful. It follows Evan's story and it has a happy ending. It's the type of film that I don't plan to watch again, but probably will do, and probably more than once.
In my opinion this movie is a wee gem. It's strangely beautiful, a bit like that carrier bag blowing in the wind! I recommend it.
I even feel a need to make a shout out to the guy who wrote and directed this movie, his name is Geoffrey Haley. He has two writing credits to his name, one short film and this one being his only feature film. His greatest plethora of work takes place within the camera and electrical department; if you check out his film credentials on IMDb, he has over 80 for camera and electrical, steadicam operations being his apparent forte. You will no doubt recognise a lot of the films Haley has worked on, one of which was 'American Beauty'
Swings and roundabouts folks. Swings and roundabouts.
