June 7, 2009
Hearing the words “romantic comedy” immediately provides an expectation for a film; something light, fluffy and essentially harmless, a film that requires little thought whilst watching. However, with Last Chance Harvey, director and writer Joel Hopkins offers something a bit different. Instead of the typical Young Hollywood cast that an audience has grown to expect from a rom-com, this time the two lead roles are filled with more seasoned greats, namely Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Meet The Fockers) and Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Brideshead Revisited).
Set in London, Last Chance Harvey tells the tale of two fifty-somethings who are still waiting for the right person. Hoffman’s character Harvey Shine is visiting England to attend the marriage of his daughter, and that’s right, you guessed it, he happens to meet Kate Walker a similarly single, similarly aged woman at Heathrow airport. Whilst this seems like a some-what typical premise for this kind of film, the fact that both main characters are struggling with the burdens that come along with being older and alone gives the film the drive of desperation. Last Chance Harvey has elements that are to be expected and predicted; the chance meeting, the fall in love, the transatlantic complication. But it also has darker moments like Harvey’s emotional separation from his daughter and Kate’s exhausting relationship with her lonely mother, and it’s aspects such as these that provide the film with a more realistic quality.
Hoffman’s charming portrayal of a man whose life didn’t turn out quite as he’d wanted and Thompson’s ability to be so refreshingly “English” about matters provoke many moments of laughter from the audience. The couples’ middle-aged outlook on life certainly brought something new to the genre and there is also an amusing sub-plot involving Kate’s mother that provides yet more humour.
Overall, Last Chance Harvey is exactly what a film of its type should be; it’s easy to watch, it’s enjoyable and it leaves the audience feeling good. It is also many things besides that though; it is insightful and sensitive and can bring a tear to the eye just as quickly as laughter to the lips.
Set in London, Last Chance Harvey tells the tale of two fifty-somethings who are still waiting for the right person. Hoffman’s character Harvey Shine is visiting England to attend the marriage of his daughter, and that’s right, you guessed it, he happens to meet Kate Walker a similarly single, similarly aged woman at Heathrow airport. Whilst this seems like a some-what typical premise for this kind of film, the fact that both main characters are struggling with the burdens that come along with being older and alone gives the film the drive of desperation. Last Chance Harvey has elements that are to be expected and predicted; the chance meeting, the fall in love, the transatlantic complication. But it also has darker moments like Harvey’s emotional separation from his daughter and Kate’s exhausting relationship with her lonely mother, and it’s aspects such as these that provide the film with a more realistic quality.
Hoffman’s charming portrayal of a man whose life didn’t turn out quite as he’d wanted and Thompson’s ability to be so refreshingly “English” about matters provoke many moments of laughter from the audience. The couples’ middle-aged outlook on life certainly brought something new to the genre and there is also an amusing sub-plot involving Kate’s mother that provides yet more humour.
Overall, Last Chance Harvey is exactly what a film of its type should be; it’s easy to watch, it’s enjoyable and it leaves the audience feeling good. It is also many things besides that though; it is insightful and sensitive and can bring a tear to the eye just as quickly as laughter to the lips.