The Last Kiss [DVD]

Having seen the adverts for The Last Kiss, I realised that this definitely wasn't a Rom-Com. And seeing it, I realised it really isn't funny at all.

I find the story really touching, and the choice's that Zach Braff has to make are nothing but agonizing. I liked how the film shows that affairs are not always so simple. That it's not always intentional, the partner you're duping is not a bad person and that the person doing the cheating can be going through hell while trying to grab a piece of what they see is heaven.

I found it a bit hard going, as I literally wanted to shout "Don't do it!" at the screen. This film can be a little glum at times, but that's what affairs are. I think maybe this film has had poor reviews because it may be too true to life. It does not gloss over the hardships of failed / failing relationships. The presence of Zach Braff leads you into thinking that he will lead the cast with his usual sense of humour. This is not the case. Rachel Bilson played a good part, and I thought Casey Affleck was awesome.

This film touched me in a way that means I remembered the emotions long after I had finished watching.

A real heartfelt performance from all the cast, and a really touching and genuine piece of film, just don't hope to leave your own worries at the door!

In The Last Kiss, a film that is peppered with anguished thirty-somethings - Zach Braff plays Michael, an architect on the other side of twenty-nine. Michael has been with his girlfriend, Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) for about three years, and as the film opens, he is celebrating that she is ten weeks pregnant. Although Michael and Jenna have no plans to marry, both seem excited about becoming parents.

But is Michael as enthusiastic about becoming a parent as he initially lets on? His initial fervor is tempered by a real fear of the predictability of marriage and family life. Jenna is obviously excited, and life for her is currently about sonograms and baby-stuff, but she's also concerned that she'll get fat and that Michael won't love her any more. Jenna's parents Stephen and Anna (Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner) thrill at the news, even though their own marriage isn't going too well.

The fact that Michael doesn't want to get married strains the relationship - he even turns to stone at the mention of it - especially when he looks around and sees that his best mates are either having marital problems or are fanatically trying to wrestle clear of it. Chris (Casey Affleck) constantly argues with his wife and has to contend with a constantly screaming baby, he's had enough of marriage and ponders getting a divorce.

Izzy (Michael Weston) has just been dumped by his girlfriend and wants to travel to South America on a motorcycle. And Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) bartends for a living and has sex for fun, and positively cringes at the slightest sign of commitment. Everything comes to ahead when the guys attend a wedding of a friend and the poor Michael's downfall is suddenly set in motion.

Temptation arrives in the form of Kim (Rachel Bilson), a bright but sexually manipulative college sophomore who starts up a flirtation with the anguished Michael. Kim's a bit childish as she tentatively tests the limits of her sex appeal and its effect on men, she doesn't much care that Michael's got a girlfriend and he's a liar enough not to tell her that he's about to become a dad.

Kim is trouble with a capital T, she's young enough to find it endearing, and kind of exciting, to possibly be able to tempt Michael out of a serious relationship, and deluded enough to think she can play with fire and not get burned.

So begins the game playing, where commitment and loyalty and even love are tested to their very limits, as both Michael and Jenna must learn some difficult truths about themselves and each other. Michael learns about the importance of truth and honesty, whilst Jenna learns that people are essentially flawed and perhaps that relationships should not always be viewed in black and white terms.

Although for some viewers The Last Kiss will recognizably cover familiar territory - it is actually based on an Italian movie - the film does a great job of presenting some timely issues about male commitment and these boy-men who fear the future. Michael's guilt-ridden ambivalence and the way he works though it is obviously the centerpiece of the movie and he's constantly caught between the lovely girl at home and the "little brunet" who keeps tempting him with sex and fun.

The acting is superlative, with all the players giving gritty and meaty performances, especially from the talented veterans Danner and Wilkinson. Even as director Tony Goldwyn piles on all the histrionics and melodrama a bit strong, the film is always compelling and totally convincing in its look at modern, urban upper-middle class relationships.

The reason that The Last Kiss really works though, is that of Zack Braff, who shades his character with such nuance, that he makes Michael sympathetic even when he does some seriously stupid things. As we meet the characters and see their different approaches to romance and commitment, their expectations and fears, we get a story that really does show the hard work that often has to go into making relationships work. Mike Leonard December 06.

Despite appreciating Braff's other efforts (Garden State and Scrubs)I had put off watching this after reading loads of reviews which concluded that this film was about a bunch of spoilt middle class Americans wearing their 'woe is me' too firmly on their sleeve and then learn to be better people. That kind of stuff makes me want to retch a little. However 'The Last Kiss' just kept popping up on my rental recommendations (proof I've bought too many Scrubs boxsets...)so I caved in. And you know what? It's actually carefully considered and well worth a look. Even the characters I should have found irritating had sides to them which didn't make me want to pan their heads in. And Braff's bit on the side is not nasty, she's just young, naive and flattered.

I like films that appreciate that the world is not made up of goodies and baddies but a whole spectrum in between. Well worth a look.