Isn't he a Rabbit?

So I didn't think I would turn this page into a review of anything, but I'm thinking if I see something that really inspires or really sucks there is merit in letting you people know about it. I went with Heather saturday to see the movie Last Chance Harvey.



I wasn't sure whether I was going to love or hate this film. I thought that I was going to feel indifferent about it and then just leave it at that. So our lead male Harvey's, played by Dustin Hoffman, life is completely screwed up. He's losing his job, his ex-wife turns his nose up at him and his daughter is getting married and isn't too keen on him being a part of the festivities. I kept feeling sadder and sadder as the movie went on. Emma Thompson's character Kate is still single and older without any profits and you can tell the wear that that is taking on her. I was maybe 30 minutes into the movie and felt as though that anything and everything that could go wrong to make somebody suicidal was about to. I was feeling as though I needed to leave the movie and that would help cheer me up.

Then it happened. The meet cute between our leads and though it was at first a strained happiness it was nice to not be so emo anymore so it was taken in with enthusiasm. I was just happy that they finally met, because we all know that's what the movie was about. The rest of the movie was amazing. The ENTIRE movie was amazing. It's really something that can bring hope and cheer into all of our lives. My favorite part of the movie was the many characters and the quirks that made them amazing.

Heather said, "If this film doesn't prove we have British in us then I don't know what does." She's right, it had British humor in it through and through and most of the time Heather and I were the only ones laughing. I was seeing so many family traits in this movie it was quite endearing. The number one favorite was Kate's mother Maggie, played by Eileen Atkins. She has such a few amount of lines and her scenes are filled with just her looking around, spying on the neighbor and internally connecting with the audience. To say she is brilliant is an understatement. She also bore quite the resemblance to my mother in her emotions and actions. In one part Kate has her arms around her and tells her three times in a row, "Hug me mum" while Maggie's arms are at her side trying to ignore her, but after the final plea puts her arms around Kate in what is obviously an exasperated hope that her daughter will stop hugging her. It's priceless. (That's totally my mom.)

Dustin Hoffman is quite a gruff old man, but is completely delightful. He can certainly deliver a line and, with that sparkle in his eye, he will charm your pants off. He certainly delivered the complete lows and highs of Harvey's life with such purity and raw emotion it was compelling. Emma Thompson is just beautiful to watch. She has poise and vulnerability and is a complete star. I don't know what else to say, she's just an entrancing actress because it is completely real with her. She's not just pretending, she's living. These two together is such a match. She's about 4 inches taller than him the entire film because of her shoes with heels and it's so funny to see them together. At the end she does take her shoes off and comes almost to his level (at least to the level of his hair) and they walk off in one of the most beautiful vertical crane shot panning up and out through green trees filling both sides of the screen with a sliver in the middle to still view both actors walking off together. Such a brilliant thing to end on.

I have to say how much I love movies that have been filmed in London because I am constantly looking at the scenes to see if I was where they currently are. In this film I got really excited because Kate has a class in the National Theatre and I have been where the class was shot. Then I have walked down the river and across those bridges. It was kind of fun. I know, I'm totally lame, but it's still way cool for me. But anyway, the places they chose to film in London were so exquisite and beautiful and lent so much for the movie. It was beautiful to see.

So if you didn't guess already, I completely endorse this movie. It's funny and enjoyable in every sense of the word and is still touching and dramatic. It's definitely a must see in my opinion. Hopefully this all didn't sound so lame and boring, but I just wanted to write about it. Good movies make me want to take action somehow.