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

Dustin Hoffman is twenty-two years older than Emma Thompson. At one point, her character mentions her father having a heart problem. Hoffman is only eight years younger than Thompson's late father Eric Thompson.

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Goofs

When Kate hugs her mother at the start of the film, the slice of toast in her hand disappears.

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Quotes

Kate Walker: You - You just dive in there, don't you just, whoosh, anywhere, deep end. And I'm not, I'm not a bloody swimming pool Harvey.

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Crazy Credits

During the final credits there is one more scene added.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes (2010)

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Soundtracks

Miss You More
Written by J. Green, G. Cecil and D. Holmes
Performed by The Lark
Courtesy of Rumblefish

User Reviews

A Lesson in Terrific Acting

"Last Chance Harvey" would have made a great short subject. As it is, the feature length film clocks in at a mere 90 minutes or so, but I'm not sure there was really enough material to warrant even that brief running time.

But whatever the film's shortcomings are in substance are more than made up for by the ample talents of its two stars, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. They do a tremendous amount with what they're given, and they surprisingly have a lot of chemistry together playing two middle-aged sad sacks who reignite a spark of joy in their lives when they meet and strike up a romance. Hoffman especially does fine work. I suspect his part was much more difficult to play than he makes it look, as he has to convey a huge amount of history about Harvey in a small amount of time, both making us understand why his family has had it with him and why someone like Thompson would fall for him.

This movie is a lesson in how any film's ultimate success can rely almost exclusively on the actors cast in it.

Grade: A-