'Last Chance Harvey' review

Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman (Credit: Keith Hamshere/Overture)

Photos:

With his job potentially hanging in the balance, commercial jingle writer Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman) travels to London for the wedding of his daughter (Liane Balaban) who he hasn’t been close with since he divorced her mother (Kathy Baker) years earlier. At the same time, British singleton Kate Walker (Emma Thompson) wonders if there will ever be more to her life than working in the airport and caring for her mother (Eileen Atkins). Eventually Harvey and Kate meet and…well, you can figure out the rest.

The buzz: Hoffman and Thompson have both earned Golden Globe nominations for their performances and even though their film doesn’t have as high a profile as other late 2008 releases, it’s intriguing to see the “Stranger Than Fiction” co-stars paired as romantic leads. Their director, Joel Hopkins, hasn’t made a film since his 2001 debut “Jump Tomorrow,” but that won him a British Academy award for most promising newcomer.

The verdict: “Last Chance Harvey” doesn’t exactly break any new ground, but it’s a potent reminder of just how appealing a film can be when it finds exactly the right tone and performers. Individually, and especially together, Hoffman and Thompson are divine, lending the full weight of life experience to their characters and granting this light-hearted, life-affirming, immensely likable film a depth it might otherwise have lacked.

Did you know? The film was spurred by a meeting between Hopkins and Thompson, whose desire to work with the director inspired him to write a script just for her and create the character of Kate.

Add a comment