The Rant- The Last Kiss

Okay, the last rant I did was on Snakes on a Plane and I'm still stinging from the aftermath of that opening weekend. I'm bringing back The Rant to get on with things. After some anticipation, I saw The Last Kiss today. I'm quite a big fan of Garden State and The O.C. So a movie co-starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson seemed right up my alley. Some of my favorite movies have been coming of age romantic comedies, but those movies aren't as prevalent as they were in the late 80's through mid 90's so I was hoping for a good one to add to the list. As usual, I won't give a full fledged review, just impressions. If you don't want to be spoiled stop reading now.

Let's start out by saying that The Last Kiss is NOT a quirky, light-hearted, romantic comedy romp set to jangly music. The movie is glum, heavy handed, and tries to be cerebral, with lots of depressed looks and eyes closed meditation thrown in for good measure. The Last Kiss does have it's cute quirky moments but for the most part the tone is a somber one.

The Last Kiss centers around four friends all about to turn 30. There's Izzy, the guy who was freshly dumped by the love of his life and going crazy. Kenny is a bartender who bangs freely and runs like hell at the wiff of commitment. Chris, who has to deal with a punishing wife and a screaming baby, and Zach Braff as Michael, who just knocked up his girlfriend of three years but won't commit to marriage until she can name five married couples who worked out. Sounds like Paj and his Amazing Friends...it's not something I really needed to go to the movies to see. I've either lived it or lived vicariously through it.

FINALLY, there's an scene in a movie where the boyfriend farts on his girlfriend!!! It's about friggin' time!

Jacinda Barrett, plays Jenna, Michael's knocked up girlfriend. She was also the Australian model in Real World: London. She does a good job, but I kept waiting for her accent to slip. I also thought of her Real World roommate Kat whenever she was on-screen. mmm mmm mmm

If you're looking for a movie with well developed women characters, The Last Kiss ain't it. Jenna is perfect, not for anything she says or does, but because the movie says so. Kim, Rachel Bilson, is desirable, not because she's brings something new to the table, but because she's a co-ed, flirty, and accessible. If I didn't have her Summer Roberts character to fill the gaps, there would just be an attractive petite brunette.

The women characters are all so clingy,needy,and starved for attention and answers, that you really sorta hope that all the guys take off to South America. Still, they sit around waiting to be left, come back to, or forgive their men so there's no need to bother. At times you just want to yell out a phrase I have heard many, many, many, MANY times before, "Dude, the girl is CRAZY, you are much better off without her"

Seriously, this movie is such a downer when it comes to relationships that even the couples that stay together by the end don't seemed destined for happiness at all.

Apparently, Zach Braff compiled this soundtrack as he did for Garden State. If he gets that gig for all of his movies I wish he'd put some hip-hop on his iPod.

The mood really kills what could have been a great movie, because all of the actors showed flashes of being able to do so much more than what they were given. The strength of the actors kept me interested until the end.

There is a pretty cool cell phone scenario which also plays really well. It's one of the two "Dude, shut the fuck up!" moments in The Last Kiss and both scenes were done well enough leave me cringing.

All in all the movie was just "okay" with the actors charm being the films saving grace. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting, nor was it really what I was looking for.

Finally, standing with a boombox over your head > sitting your cheating ass on a porch.

Tags: The Rant, Movies, The Last Kiss