A quarter-life crisis isn’t as rare as people would think anymore. It’s likely to see someone verging on 30 beginning to panic in regards to their future. In “The Last Kiss,” a remake of Gabriele Muccino’s Italian “L'Ultimo Bacio,” four friends approaching their 30s find their lives being thrown into chaos.
Michael (Zach Braff) and his girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) have just found out they will be having a baby. Out of all their friends, they seem to have the most stable relationship. Izzy (Michael Weston) can’t get over his ex Arianna (Marley Shelton). Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) is busy having fun and sleeping around. Then there’s Chris (Casey Affleck), unhappy in a marriage with Lisa (Lauren Lee Smith).
Without a doubt, the feel the most secure. But during another friend’s wedding, Michael meets Kim (Rachel Bilson), a college co-ed who tempts him with her good looks and insightful thoughts. He becomes seduced, and risks everything.
Of course, Jenna finds out. Her faith in relationships had already been shaken when her parents, Anna and Stephen (Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson), separated. Michael won’t let Jenna go and tries to fix everything that he broke.
But the underlying message of “The Last Kiss” is the human need for love and the choices people have to make. For love, it’s that yearning, unceasing need that when people don’t feel it, they keep looking. And the choices you make shape your future, for better or for worse.
Just to be clear, Braff is not playing an extension of Andrew Largeman from “Garden State.” Michael tends to be less likeable and funny. Largeman was just trying to figure out life, no plans were in place, there were no obligations. What Michael does -- especially when Jenna is pregnant -- is shown as being good at the time, more of an impulse, but the consequences are dire.
The love triangle between him and his two women -- girlfriend and fling that could be more -- mirrors so many real life stories. But the speech that he gives on being terrified about life is compelling, though doesn’t forgive his sins.
Barrett’s acting range excels in “The Last Kiss,” something not seen from her since her role in “Ladder 49.” The scene where she finds out that Michael is out with another woman is heartbreaking. She makes the audience feel her pain and how betrayed she feels, it’s a believable performance from this Aussie actress. Rachel McAdams was set to play Jenna first, but had to step out, which seems to have been a good choice because it’s hard to see her as being as believable.
Also moving past her infamous role as Summer on “The OC,” is Bilson. She comes across as that playful, young woman she’s known for when she first appears on screen, but she moves past that. In her big screen debut, Bilson shows that she really can be more than the teenaged sex kitten even though she’s still got sex appeal. Although it’s known that she did have a body double for “The Last Kiss” sex scene.
But Bilson also gets the quote of the movie, “The world is moving so fast now that we start freaking long before our parents did because we don't ever stop to breathe anymore.” She plays the youngest character in the movie, yet she has the tidbit of information that really sums up what everyone is feeling.
The soundtrack has played a large part in Braff’s movies. “Garden State” had one of the best selling accompanying soundtracks ever, it even won a Grammy. Braff has done it again with “The Last Kiss” soundtrack. As in the Italian film (the title song by Carmen Consoli was her biggest hit), music is integral to the movie. With songs from Imogen Heap, Rachael Yamagata and Coldplay, of course it’s a good album. It may sound like a mix CD anyone can make, but add it to the movie, and there’s magic.
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
