"Last Night" is a very well-conceived, well-written film about the end of the world. Unfortunately, the execution leaves something to be desired. The acting is almost uniformly flat (an unfortunate trait of most Canadian films, I'm afraid), and the pacing is just a bit off. The film intertwines six or seven plotlines into a cohesive whole. My favorite involved David Cronenberg as a gas company executive trying to keep everything running smoothly until the final hour. My least favorite (or favorites, I should say) involved director McKellar (easily the worst actor in the film) as a self-absorbed misanthrope who hates his family & is afraid of sex. Also included is a family pretending it's Christmas, a guy trying to fulfill every sexual fantasy he has ever had before the end, a mother & daughter sitting in a trolley with no driver, a concert pianist, and a woman running around, shouting out how much time is left. The last three plotlines mentioned do nothing to advance the story, but merely seem there to show how arty McKellar really is. I would have preferred that McKellar had concentrated on the other, more humanistic plotlines.
This is not a bad film by any means, but given the subject matter, it could have been a little less reserved and a little more daring.
This is not a bad film by any means, but given the subject matter, it could have been a little less reserved and a little more daring.