Powerful

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A piercing snapshot of a family weekend at Lake Tahoe that reveals the ennui, self-infatuation and arrogance of an affluent family. In this setting we meet the matriarch, Celia Green, who's beauty and spirit has imploded in a self-created maze of material objects and unreleased creativity. She undergoes a subtle yet powerful transformation that affects her family and future. Viewers who want fast action won't find release in this film. However, those sensitive souls who never tire of studying human behavior and don't mind facing the starkest challenge of parenthood, to those rare viewers I highly recommend this little pearl. You will surely find something to think about.

The people in this movie are clueless narcissists, very well portrayed. I know people like this, limousine liberals, and this is perfectly spot on. And then the portrayal of their humanity gradually shining through the fog of pretension infects every character and makes for a great movie experience. Patricia Clarkson is once again fabulous in a lead role, and the others play off of her nicely. The pretty scenery doesn't hurt, and the director makes full use of the stunning light show that the California/Nevada mountains provides. I question some of the devices that went nowhere, like the screenplay and the Indian museum. They are not used as devices so much as character filler, most of which is not necessary for our understanding of the characters, but which also doesn't get too much in the way.I have liked Mays in other things she's done, but I thought she was a bit miscast for the role she was asked to play. I thought the story could have done more with the Nora-Sean couple other than just fill up the house and provide background. Overall though, I really liked the way this movie was put together. It does a very good job of showing how insular this world can be and how people who want for nothing will manufacture their own problems just by calling them problems. Misery rises to the level of comfort. All this without veering off into melodrama. Highly recommended.

A family of spoiled narcissists spend a long weekend at their fabulous Lake Tahoe home(s). The children are, for the most part, unreflective, unaccomplished and unkind. Self-absorption incarnate. Add assorted wives, boyfriends and hangers-on. Mom (the always glorious Patricia Clarkson) has the most unbelievable character trajectory from uptight, cold control-freak to, well, the opposite of that. Dad pretty much looks angry and disappointed all the time (with some good reason, if you ask me) until he, too, experiences a miraculous transformation at the very, very end where he is kind and gentle to his now changed wife. In summary: a group of exceedingly unattractive and under-appreciative people do rather little over the course of a weekend, but one or two seemed to be changed by it. Oh, and they sell the house. I would keep the house and get rid of the damn kids.

I thought this was a very brave film. The film makers didn't shy away from portraying reality, at least a particular slice of it. They offered up light and shadow without too much commentary, simply portraying it in its subtle and not so subtle complexity. I liked and disliked all the characters. I judged some of their actions, while still caring and having compassion. Patricia Clarkson gives an evocative, haunting performance. The bulk of the cast (all the main characters) are equally believable and nuanced. Together they create a world that doesn't apologize for what it is, that allows us into the lifestyle of the few, while sharing the fear, love and unskillfulness that in part of humanity as a whole. I liked that the film doesn't tell us what to think and feel. It offers up the intimate interactions of one family, and leaves the work of perspective up to us. THE LAST WEEKEND felt more like delving into a good novel than watching a Hollywood movie, which made at least this viewer quite happy she risked the unknown and watched it.