Last Chance Harvey (2008)

In London for his daughter's wedding, a rumpled man finds his romantic spirits lifted by a new woman in his life.

Director:

Joel Hopkins

Writer:

Joel Hopkins

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Kathy Baker

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Harvey Shine
Emma Thompson	...	Kate Walker
Eileen Atkins	...	Maggie
Kathy Baker	...	Jean
Liane Balaban	...	Susan
James Brolin	...	Brian
Richard Schiff	...	Marvin
Tim Howar	...	Johnnie (as Timothy Howar)
Wendy Mae Brown	...	Aggie
Bronagh Gallagher	...	Oonagh
Jeremy Sheffield	...	Matt
Daniel Lapaine	...	Scott (as Daniel LaPaine)
Patrick Baladi	...	Simon
Adam James	...	Josh Hillman
Michael Landes	...	Peter Turner

Storyline

Harvey Shine is in London for the weekend for his daughter's wedding. His work in New York preoccupies him: he writes music for ads, and he knows his boss is pushing him aside for younger talent. With family he's also on the sidelines - long divorced, his wife remarried, her husband closer to his daughter than he. His path crosses that of Kate Walker, unmarried, her life becoming that of a spinster, set up by friends on blind dates leading nowhere. After Harvey's no good terrible day, he chats Kate up at a Heathrow bar. She's not interested. Where can this conversation lead? Back at his daughter's reception, the step-father rises to give a toast.

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | middle age romance | quitting job | dancing | piano playing | 

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Taglines:

It's about first loves, last chances and everything in between.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tu última oportunidad

Filming Locations:

Belsize Park, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$97,260, 28 December 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$14,879,423, 19 April 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Overture Films, Process Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Harvey's cell phone number in the movie is 917-384-5368.

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Goofs

The day Harvey met Kate, it's autumn everywhere. When she tells him to go to the wedding reception, he asks her the time and she says it's 7pm however it is still daylight. This is unusual for London where sunset is around half past 6 in the autumn. At the end of the movie, when they are walking away on the south bank, the tree leaves are fully green.

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Quotes

Harvey Shine: [to waiter] Thank you.
[to Kate]
Harvey Shine: See? We're having together.
Kate Walker: No. We're having lunch next to each other.
Harvey Shine: Ah. By the way, Harvey - Harvey Shine.
Kate Walker: [shakes hand] Kate Walker. So, why aren't you at the wedding?
Harvey Shine: [notices vaccum] I knew there was something that was missing. I had to get back for work.
Kate Walker: What, for the job you just lost?
Harvey Shine: Yes, exactly.
Kate Walker: Did you enjoy it, the job?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

During the final credits there is one more scene added.

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Connections

Featured in Angela and Friends: Episode #1.14 (2009)

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Soundtracks

I Got Opinions
Written & Performed by Greg Johnson
Courtesy of Johnson Music America, LLC

User Reviews

A Conventional Third Act Weighs Down a Leisurely Autumnal Romantic Yarn

At its best, this rather slight 2008 melding of comedy and drama reminds me of Ulu Grosbard's bittersweet "Falling in Love" (1984) in which Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep stumble into a romantic relationship constantly derailed by guilt and commuter train schedules. At its worst, this film - leisurely directed and written by Joel Hopkins - uses several well-worn cinematic conventions - including a familiar third-act plot device from a classic movie - and forces a predictable ending that is far from satisfying. On the upside, it certainly helps to have actors the caliber of Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in the principal roles, although I have to admit I was not taken in by their characters' halting romance because the actors are simply not meshing in a convincing way. In fact, this movie ironically works better when the actors perform in separate scenes away from each other. The problem is that the elfin Hoffman just tries too hard to overcome Thompson's self-protective demeanor of disappointment.

The story focuses on Harvey Shine, a divorced jingle writer whose career seems to be waning in the face of more youthful talent. At the same time, his daughter Susan is getting married in England, so he is anxious to offset his professional disappointments with a family reunion he really needs. However, their estrangement turns out to be deeper than expected since Susan tells him that she has already asked her rugged, engaging stepfather to give her away at the wedding. When he concludes that it is he who has become the family outsider, he meets Kate Walker, an airport employee who has the thankless task of surveying passengers coming off their flights. She also happens to be a lonely spinster who lives near her paranoid mother and finds the prospect of another failed blind date excruciating. Kate and Harvey meet-cute at a Heathrow lounge at their lowest emotional points, and they start to bond over long walks along London's South Bank. She convinces him to go to Susan's reception, and he agrees only if Kate becomes his date. The rest of the plot follows the story arc you would expect.

In perhaps a conscious move, Hoffman seems to be channeling a bit of Benjamin Braddock's schlubby, obsessive nature in "The Graduate" over forty years later. He is at his best when we feel Harvey's rejection in isolation, but the assertive approach the 71-year-old actor takes in courting Kate is challenging to embrace. Thompson, on the other hand, is a pure joy as Kate because she plays against the grain of what could have been a victim character. She wears Kate's disappointment in such a convincingly objective manner that her moments of heartache attain greater resonance. Eileen Atkins and Kathy Baker have just a few scenes to bring their characters to life, Kate's dotty mother and Harvey's still-resentful ex-wife, respectively. London looks pretty inviting thanks to John de Borman's crisp cinematography, though Dickon Hinchliffe's tinkling music punctuates the proceedings excessively. The 2009 DVD contains a nice audio commentary track with Hoffman (recorded separately), Hopkins and a particularly acerbic Thompson. The sixteen-minute featurette reflects the same personalities in a standard making-of format, although both this and the theatrical trailer give away too much of the plot.