The Last Word (2008)

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.

Director:

Geoffrey Haley

Writer:

Geoffrey Haley

Stars:

Wes Bentley, Winona Ryder, Ray Romano

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wes Bentley	...	Evan
Winona Ryder	...	Charlotte
Ray Romano	...	Abel
Gina Hecht	...	Hilde
A.J. Trauth	...	Greg
Katherine Boecher	...	Clara
John Billingsley	...	Brady
Alison Moir	...	Susan
Mickey Mickey	...	Robin (as Mickey Ewan)
Kurt Caceres	...	Sammy
Allan Rich	...	Francis
Richard Riehle	...	Man at Gorge
Michael Cornacchia	...	Client
Ivar Brogger	...	Priest
Jules Adrianna Sorensen	...	House of Pies Waitress

Storyline

Evan keeps to himself, almost without affect. He's 30, a former foster child, living alone, writing suicide notes for people. He attends a client's funeral and meets Charlotte, the client's sister. She pursues Evan; he's silent about his real work and invents a friendship with the brother. About the same time, Evan starts working with Abel, a new client, a composer of phone-waiting music who's depressed. Evan confides in Abel about Charlotte as she begins to draw him out. Crises await the self-contained Evan: his relationship with Charlotte is based on a lie, and his incipient friendship with Abel is headed toward suicide. Are more dead ends ahead?

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Plot Keywords:

suicide note | kissing | masturbation | writer | wire cutter | 

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Taglines:

A romantic comedy where opposites distract.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to an interview he gave to the New York Times in 2010, this movie was made during the middle of Wes Bentley's decade-long, extremely serious addiction to cocaine and heroin. He said in that interview that he only accepted any movie roles during that time so that he would have money to buy enough drugs.

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Goofs

When Evan is typing his password at the Last Word's web-page, the hits on the keys we can hear are too many for the characters of the password (they are six and we can hear at least ten hits).

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Quotes

Abel: Sometimes while I'm jacking off, my mind will wander, and I'll start thinking of totally random stuff, like whether I'm out of peanut butter. So later, when I'm at the store, while I'm standing in the peanut butter aisle, I'll pop a boner. I'll be standing there at the store sporting wood because I'm staring at fucking peanut butter. So then, of course, I have to go home and masturbate.

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Soundtracks

Wicked
Written by Kendall Marsh
Performed Kendall Marsh
Courtesy of Mental Music Productions, Inc.

User Reviews

Black Romantic Comedy that works

Wes Bentley (from American Beauty) stars as Evan, a very solitary guy who writes suicide notes for other people. At a funeral for one of his clients he meets Charlotte (played by Winona Ryder) who forms an instant attraction to him.

This movie is about their relationship and how their relationship influences and changes Evan's life. All the characters are well developed and realized, and the actors portray them very well. The movie is an original and clever take on the usual romantic comedy. Due to Evan's vocation, it is quite dark. I think 'black romantic comedy' defines its genre well.

The movie seemed very real despite the fact that it centers around a vocation that doesn't really exist (at least on the surface of today's society). It was funny and well written. I highly recommend it for anybody who is looking for a dark romantic comedy that is out of the ordinary.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2010 (Romania)

Also Known As:

A Última Palavra

Filming Locations:

Bar 107 - 107 W. 4th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,298

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deviant Films, Dreamz

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1