Dustin Hoffman first became a household name with The Graduate,
in which he portrayed young Benjamin Braddock, a recent college
graduate quailing under the uncertainty of the future that stretches
before him. In Last Chance Harvey, he has more occasion to look
backward as Harvey Shine, a washed-up jingle writer traveling to London
to attend the wedding of the daughter he now feels he barely knows. Just
how uninvolved he’s been in her life is hammered home when Susan (Liane
Balaban) informs him that she intends to ask her stepfather to stand up
for her at the ceremony.
This is primarily Harvey’s story, but it’s also the tale of Kate Walker (Emma Thompson),
an airport survey taker who receives incessant phone calls from her
mother (Eileen Atkins), a lonely woman who has little better to do than
pester her daughter and obsess over the possibility that her new
next-door neighbor may be a violent criminal. Kate, too, lives a
solitary life, and her friends’ attempts to fix her up with someone fail
to inspire her. When Harvey, having just missed the flight back to the
United States upon which his job depends, strikes up a conversation with
Kate, she’s not too interested in making a connection. But Harvey,
determined to find a silver lining in his otherwise dismal day, is
surprisingly persistent...
Last Chance Harvey, written
and directed by Joel Hopkins, is a quiet movie about two rather
despondent people stumbling into romance at a time when it is neither
expected nor particularly welcome. To fall in love now means
complications, especially for a couple normally separated by an ocean.
It’s also about familial relationships, particularly between parents and
children. The time has come for Harvey to repair his fractured
relationship with his daughter and become a bigger part of her life,
while Kate needs to learn how to allow herself some distance from her
over-involved mother.
There are elements of comedy in the
movie, but they’re mostly understated. It’s more of a drama with a side
of romance; I wouldn’t classify it primarily as a romance because we’re
only allowed to see the beginnings of this kinship, and it’s more about
two fairly set-in-their-ways people demonstrating a willingness to
change. The biggest step for her is accepting Harvey’s initial
invitation to lunch, while his biggest step comes shortly thereafter.
This causes the film’s conclusion to feel just a bit anti-climactic,
though there’s still some tension as it seems circumstances may
intervene to prevent a satisfying ending.
I’m not that
surprised the movie failed to do very well in theaters; it appeals
primarily to an over-40 audience, and I certainly can’t see many people
under 20 clamoring to see it. It’s not a movie in which very much
happens, and what does happen occurs with very little fanfare, but on a
rainy day when you’re looking for a way to while away the hours, take a
chance on Last Chance Harvey.
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