Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

THE LAST KISS (R)

MOVIE BIASES: Loved the Italian original, intrigued by Zach Braff.

MAJOR PLAYERS: Zach Braff (Garden State), Jacinda Barrett (Posideon), Casey Affleck (Ocean's Twelve), screenwriter Paul Haggis (Crash), and director Tony Goldwyn (A Walk on the Moon)

During my self-imposed 18 month sabbatical four years ago, I stumbled across a little Italian number called "L'Ultimo Bacio." It was foreign, subtitled, I knew nothing about it except that it was showing at the AFI building as part of some film festival - I just knew I'd hate it. Instead, I LOVED it, named it my movie of the year (although
I wasn't reviewing then), and crowed about it to anyone who'd listen (most didn't). The passion, the passion!!! It came and went in the theaters faster than a girl with sense on "Flavor of Love." Fortunately, someone other than myself took notice, as "Bacio" has been adapted for the American market with one of the shrewdest young
talents on the filmmaking horizon, Zach Braff. Although not all of "the passion, the passion!!!" translates, "Kiss" sure makes you wanna pucker up.

On the verge of 30, Michael's (Braff) having "a permanent crisis" about the prospect of his whole life being planned out, now that everyone's getting married around him and his live-in girlfriend Jenna (Barrett) is preggers with their first child. Izzy's (Michael Weston) rejection by his cheating girlfriend spins him off into planning a
wanderlust road trip of self-discovery to South America from their native Wisconsin. Very married, henpecked new father Chris (Affleck), who's "tired of being told how much I suck," is tempted to join him while the sexually adventurous Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) is seemingly content with his unattached, clothes optional, bartender lifestyle. As if that weren't enough, Jenna's parents, married for thirty years, undergo their own two-thirds life crisis when her mother Anna (Blythe Danner) decides to step out on her father Stephen (Tom Wilkinson). Like a Molotov Cocktail thrown at a gas station, flirty, outgoing college sophomore Kim (Rachel Bilson) gives the commitment-questioning Michael an itch he just may want to scratch...

I hate those film critics who whine about how much better the original is to the remake (keeping out of this discussion Hollywood's natural dearth of original ideas). Although "The Last Kiss" is quite accomplished in its own right, I am about to hate on myself.

Make no mistake - this is a very good, honest movie. It's a mature, romantic drama for mature, romantic folk. Thanks to the boundlessly talented Paul Haggis, "Kiss'" script is wise about the nature of relationships ("Don't come in here and start editing my life because you're unhappy with yours") and the mistakes that lead us down the path to certainty. As the marital foibles unfold between Anna and Stephen (sublimely played by the classy and venerable team of Danner and Wilkinson), this movie also proves that you're never too old or too settled to have a crisis in your relationship. With a sensitive eye and ear for human connectivity, Goldwyn directs unobtrusively, allowing the natural dialogue to flow unabated from too many
distracting or jarring camera tricks or unnecessary angles. He's more interested in the bond between men (Affleck is so lovably hapless), drawing out an affecting, emotional performance from Barrett (who's subjugated her Aussie accent for another bulletproof American one), and his capable young star, Zach Braff.

Best known for his comedic timing and mania on TV's "Scrubs," Braff continues to position himself well for a solid big screen career with this nice follow-up to his music-fueled, twenties-and-confused opus "Garden State." Having selected the primarily acoustic music for this movie as he did in that one, Braff is the dramatic/lightly comedic centerfold of "Kiss," with a performance that deserves to be pulled out and admired. So emotionally repressed is his Michael, Braff's words slip through a clenched teeth diction that doesn't loosen until he has nothing to lose in the movie's more emotional last third. He puts it down once again - a relentlessly intriguing actor with average looks who gives realistic, naturalistic performances as effortlessly as breathing. Looking like a young, earnest John Ritter, even in
dramatic roles, Braff has an Everyman accessibility that makes his performance extremely relatable for us, ahem, over-30 set. His spirited exchanges with the very black-and-white, "Men are easy" Jenna belies how complicated we actually are, even about what should be the simple emotion of love. Our inexplicable complexities lie just beneath the surface of Braff's receptive, lightly emotive face.

Sounds like a classic right? Not quite. Only during the last third of this movie does it capture the original's unyielding, heart-choking emotion. True, "Kiss" hews closely to the structure of the original, and may even provide some more Yank-friendly lines to live by: "What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to those you care about - that's the only thing that matters;" "You can't fail if you don't give up." It's not an improvement on the original, but a worthy companion piece that reaffirms the similarities of our global humanity. But if it ain't broke...rent the Italian original after
seeing this movie. You know, for a double dose of "the passion, the passion!!!"

@@@ REELS
(THREE REELS)
It's pretty hot – go give it a shot.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES: late 20s black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare THE LAST KISS (R) MOVIE BIASES: Loved the Italian original, intrigued by Zach Braff. MAJOR PLAYERS: Zach Braff (Garden State), Jacinda Barrett (Posideon), Casey Affleck (Ocean's Twelve), screenwriter Paul Haggis (Crash), and director Tony Goldwyn (A Walk on the Moon) During my self-imposed 18 month sabbatical four years ago, I stumbled across a little Italian number called "L'Ultimo Bacio." It was foreign, subtitled, I knew nothing about it except that it was showing at the AFI building as part of some film festival - I just knew I'd hate it. Instead, I LOVED it, named it my movie of the year (although I wasn't reviewing then), and crowed about it to anyone who'd listen (most didn't). The passion, the passion!!! It came and went in the theaters faster than a girl with sense on "Flavor of Love." Fortunately, someone other than myself took notice, as "Bacio" has been adapted for the American market with one of the shrewdest young talents on the filmmaking horizon, Zach Braff. Although not all of "the passion, the passion!!!" translates, "Kiss" sure makes you wanna pucker up. On the verge of 30, Michael's (Braff) having "a permanent crisis" about the prospect of his whole life being planned out, now that everyone's getting married around him and his live-in girlfriend Jenna (Barrett) is preggers with their first child. Izzy's (Michael Weston) rejection by his cheating girlfriend spins him off into planning a wanderlust road trip of self-discovery to South America from their native Wisconsin. Very married, henpecked new father Chris (Affleck), who's "tired of being told how much I suck," is tempted to join him while the sexually adventurous Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) is seemingly content with his unattached, clothes optional, bartender lifestyle. As if that weren't enough, Jenna's parents, married for thirty years, undergo their own two-thirds life crisis when her mother Anna (Blythe Danner) decides to step out on her father Stephen (Tom Wilkinson). Like a Molotov Cocktail thrown at a gas station, flirty, outgoing college sophomore Kim (Rachel Bilson) gives the commitment-questioning Michael an itch he just may want to scratch... I hate those film critics who whine about how much better the original is to the remake (keeping out of this discussion Hollywood's natural dearth of original ideas). Although "The Last Kiss" is quite accomplished in its own right, I am about to hate on myself. Make no mistake - this is a very good, honest movie. It's a mature, romantic drama for mature, romantic folk. Thanks to the boundlessly talented Paul Haggis, "Kiss'" script is wise about the nature of relationships ("Don't come in here and start editing my life because you're unhappy with yours") and the mistakes that lead us down the path to certainty. As the marital foibles unfold between Anna and Stephen (sublimely played by the classy and venerable team of Danner and Wilkinson), this movie also proves that you're never too old or too settled to have a crisis in your relationship. With a sensitive eye and ear for human connectivity, Goldwyn directs unobtrusively, allowing the natural dialogue to flow unabated from too many distracting or jarring camera tricks or unnecessary angles. He's more interested in the bond between men (Affleck is so lovably hapless), drawing out an affecting, emotional performance from Barrett (who's subjugated her Aussie accent for another bulletproof American one), and his capable young star, Zach Braff. Best known for his comedic timing and mania on TV's "Scrubs," Braff continues to position himself well for a solid big screen career with this nice follow-up to his music-fueled, twenties-and-confused opus "Garden State." Having selected the primarily acoustic music for this movie as he did in that one, Braff is the dramatic/lightly comedic centerfold of "Kiss," with a performance that deserves to be pulled out and admired. So emotionally repressed is his Michael, Braff's words slip through a clenched teeth diction that doesn't loosen until he has nothing to lose in the movie's more emotional last third. He puts it down once again - a relentlessly intriguing actor with average looks who gives realistic, naturalistic performances as effortlessly as breathing. Looking like a young, earnest John Ritter, even in dramatic roles, Braff has an Everyman accessibility that makes his performance extremely relatable for us, ahem, over-30 set. His spirited exchanges with the very black-and-white, "Men are easy" Jenna belies how complicated we actually are, even about what should be the simple emotion of love. Our inexplicable complexities lie just beneath the surface of Braff's receptive, lightly emotive face. Sounds like a classic right? Not quite. Only during the last third of this movie does it capture the original's unyielding, heart-choking emotion. True, "Kiss" hews closely to the structure of the original, and may even provide some more Yank-friendly lines to live by: "What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to those you care about - that's the only thing that matters;" "You can't fail if you don't give up." It's not an improvement on the original, but a worthy companion piece that reaffirms the similarities of our global humanity. But if it ain't broke...rent the Italian original after seeing this movie. You know, for a double dose of "the passion, the passion!!!" @@@ REELS (THREE REELS) It's pretty hot – go give it a shot. Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com © 2004, Edwardo Jackson