LAST CHANCE HARVEY

Directed By: Joel Hopkins

Review By: Kim Jindra

LAST CHANCE HARVEY is a romance between an American jingle writer Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) on the backside of his career and a middle aged market research employee, Kate (Emma Thompson) from London.

The set up is not very inspired and seems to go on forever.  Harvey travels to London to attend the wedding of his estranged daughter.  Kate secretly longs for a relationship but isn't crazy about dating.  The film doesn't even get interesting until the two meet.

Thompson and Hoffman have chemistry.  And they do their best with a script that at times feels very written.  There were some funny bits like when Harvey offers to walk Kate to class and carry her books but it also felt like a nod to THE GRADUATE.   I also liked the scene where Kate says she can't go to a wedding reception in green polyester and Harvey thinks it is a ploy to get him to buy her a new frock.  But for the most part neither actor is stretched. 

I always enjoy the acid delivery of Thompson and the put upon characters Hoffman plays, so from that stand point the movie felt comfortable.  I also love a good romance and this one was acceptable just not that memorable. 

As we exited the theater, I heard one film goer say, 'this was a romance for old people' which isn't entirely fair.   Just because the characters are 'older' doesn't mean the film can't cut across generations.  Just look at the box office for GRUMPY OLD MEN. I think what made it seem like it was older is the slow pace, especially at the beginning and the lack of truly fresh ideas.   This won't garner a lot of attention for the story but it is a nice date movie or rental.