An Exercise In Nonsense

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Caution: spoilers ahead. This is a spoilered review, so be warned.The film starts out as original, even bold. The character of Evan is very well fleshed and sympathetic (at least from my standpoint). The premise is quite believable, with a certain slightly decadent/slightly post-modern charm, and definite intelligence.However, once the drama begins to unfold, the movie's charm slips away, while the gaping maw of Hollywood threadbare *romantic* morality looms into view. And promptly eats the main character.As it turns out, writing beautiful poetry or prose for someone's grand exit out of life is a shameful sin. Only depressed people with the obligatory abused childhood may contemplate doing this for a living. And that these people must be punished, and corrected in their ways.Charlotte (Winona Ryder) was deeply estranged from her brother, they haven't seen each other or talked for a long time, and she wasn't there for him when he chose to commit suicide. On his funeral, she spots Evan, the professional death note writer (accomplished, too, - as we're told, one of his notes won a writing award) and chases him relentlessly, ignoring his uncertainty and basically throwing herself at him. When Evan finally submits to her *charms* (after having been cornered on a roof, no less), the situation changes dramatically. Evan eventually becomes truly enamored with Charlotta, while she begins to demand total knowledge of his life. Out of completely misplaced chivalry (the usual plothole of Hollywood romances, and a definite hint at the travesties to come), Evan chooses to hide his occupation, in pointless hopes of avoiding the very questionable risk of causing psychological discomfort to his lover.Needless to say, Charlotte finds out, and of course, like in all those B-grade low-brow romances, she immediately throws her "love" towards Evan overboard under the double pretext of "deceiving" her and being a soulless jerk who dares to ornament people's deaths in beautiful poetry. At this point one might wonder why the work of the common undertaker or grave monument sculptor is not being so stigmatised, but someone writing "death notes" should be perceived as a deviant. Moreover, history knows plenty of brilliant poets that were obsessed with death to a certain degree (Poe, Baudelaire and Rimbaud to name but a few), and no one dares to label them soulless or uncaring.The crushed Evan is not allowed such blasphemous thoughts, however. After a pathetic encounter with a mugger, where Evan's emasculation is finalised (he cries like a child and says his sorry for hitting the mugger back after the bastard pistol-whipped him), he dutifully abandons writing, leaves town, and engages in a pointless, stupid Luddite-like business of letting raging morons throw electronic equipment that baffles their tiny minds off a cliff, while filming this ordeal. This final scene may very well be seen as a meta-comment on the movie itself, which abandons an intelligent and promising premise in favor of filming the pointless rage of a moronic woman and the damage it caused to a sophisticated piece of equipment that was the protagonist.All in all, while amusing (from an academic standpoint), it was really sad to watch. It sends a deeply flawed message. This movie and others like it have a lot in common with older, male chauvinist "taming of the shrew" scenarios, only with the roles reversed. It's quite shocking in this day and age to see such primal, degenerate values at work. I feel particularly sad for Winona's participation as in the past she played characters similar to Evan but from a female perspective, and usually managed to maintain the integrity of these characters. Too bad she didn't recognise this movie for what it really is - a low-grade "romance" replete with false morals, masquerading as something thoughtful and stylish.However, once you realise all this, you can appreciate the movie from a different angle - that of Fatum in the hands of moralising authors against the protagonist struggling to maintain his integrity. Like any Greek tragedy, this one ends tragically. I gave this movie an 8 due to the following: 1) good premise; 2) Wes Bentley is very good as Evan; 3) the movie may be appreciated on a different philosophical level once you come to grips with its skewed morality; 4) baby-scaring therapy was hilarious; 5) I adore Winona Ryder. If you have any comments on this review, feel free to check out the message board where I've posted a more erratic & angry version for discussion.

I really enjoyed the movie overall... I thought the character development was great and each actor suited their role very well.The movie flowed nicely and had a touch of almost everything. Comedy, romance, sadness, and happiness.I REALLY did not like the ending, although I am one who like nice and tidy endings with love all over. I would have rather had Evan and Charlotte be together than watching Evans heart break inside his chest.That honestly is my only critique of the movie.I enjoyed seeing Ray Romono in a serious role for once. He did well and although he was considering suicide and was soo unhappy with his life he was the one who brought comedy to the film.It was the first time I have ever seen Wes Bentley in a role and I thought he did a great job.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It had my complete attention from the opening and onward until the credits. Its a decent film to watch with a significant other if you cant talk her into Rambo 7.It leans more toward the drama side of things but definitely had some good laughs. It was casted well, as for I believe it was well acted. I cant really complain about much in this one.Romano lends himself to a great comedic supporting role to liven up the dark portrayal of the lead character; equating to a great balance in the movie.The ending was definitely fitting and made the movie end on a rather positive note; considering the movie takes you on a darker walk through out it was nice to see things summed up the way they were.

There are some movies that might not really do it for you, but have some redeeming value; The Last Word is not one them. The premise was great, a guy, Even (Wes Bentley) who writes professional suicide notes, and ends up getting involved with a sister of a former client, Charlotte (Winona Ryder). The idea is that the notes Even writes are supposed to be be deep, beautiful poetry, because its the last thing his clients are going to "say" after they're gone. But when you put beautiful poetry next to a bad script, poorly delivered lines, choppy cinematography, and a capricious soundtrack, whatever intelligence the premise had going for it is flushed down the drain. This movie didn't know if it wanted to be a romantic comedy, or an intense drama. Whenever I thought it was going to settle one way or another, either the script would contradict the tone set by the actors, the soundtrack would contradict the script, or a joke would contradict the drama, basically the the movie proceeded to step on its toes one bad scene after another.I could go into more detail and give away spoilers, but to be honest, thinking about this movie is starting to give me a headache. Watch it for yourself, and judge, but if you're looking for an intense drama with a few well placed laughs, go watch Brick, or Better Off Tomorrow.