(The last time I was in London, I ran the hundred-meter dash through Heathrow in ten seconds flat to catch my flight, meaning I didn't have time to fuck around and flirt with any airport personnel - unlike the hero of this movie....)
CAST: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Kathy Baker, James Brolin, Liane Balaban, James Brolin, Wendy Mae Brown, Broonagh Gallagher, Daniel Lapaine.
DIRECTOR: Joel Hopkins
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and really cool London adventures straight ahead...
Harvey Shine is having a rough week.
In London for his daughter Susan's (Liane Balaban) wedding, he has to deal with the following bullshit: (1) his music production company bosses back in New York are pressuring him to get back to land an important account; (2) his ex-wife Jean (Kathy Baker) is busy making him feel like shit by parading her new hubby Bryan (James Brolin); (3) Susan has just dropped the bombshell that she'd like Bryan to be the one to give her away (ouch); and most annoyingly: (4) the suit he bought for the rehearsal dinner still has the security disk attached to it, so he basically has to walk around with one hand behind his back like he's picking a monster wedgie.
Kate Walker is having an equally crappy week.
A resident of London, she has to deal with the following bullshit: (1) a mundane job as an airport survey-giver who has to stop grumpy, jet-lagged passengers to get their opinion on airport services or some such; (2) a mother (Eileen Atkins) who is constantly calling her about the guy next door, who may or may not be a serial killer (I wish I were kidding here); (3) a best friend named Aggie (Wendy Mae Brown) who constantly sets her up on blind double dates - then promptly ditches her to sink-or-swim; and (4) well, I guess that's pretty much all of it.
Harvey and Kate meet briefly when he first arrives in London - and she makes the mistake of trying to get him to answer a few questions. He basically confirms the stereotype of the ugly, rude American by telling her to take a hike - and she confirms the stereotype of the "British stiff upper-lip" by suppressing the raging desire to beat him to death with her clipboard.
Anyhow, as Harvey endures a rehearsal dinner that's just as little bit lower on the Jigsaw Torture Scale than someone tazing your testicles, Kate is busy undergoing a trial of her own. Remember diabolical best friend Aggie? Well, the cow has set up Kate with on yet another blind double date - and abandons her with the dude. Which would be fine - if the dude's friends didn't show up to basically rag on them for being on a "blind date." Needless to say, Kate ends scurrying to the loo for a good cry.
We know that Kate and Harvey will eventually meet (aside from the poster and trailers, that is) because the next shot is of Harvey sitting alone in another loo, lost in his own existential angst while Kate is lost in hers - in her own loo across the city.
They finally do meet the following day when Harvey cuts out of the wedding and attempts to return to New York for that all-important account his asshole boss (Richard Schiff) wants him to land. Due to the fact that Harvey got up late or something, he misses the flight - and gets fired. Now it's official: he is the star of a new reality show called... Worst. Fucking. Week. Ever.
Dejected, Harvey heads over to an airport lounge to do what he does best when the chips are down: drink his ass off. It's there where he meets Kate, reading a book and enjoying a glass of Chardonnay. Harvey recognizes her as the woman who tried to ask him a couple of questions when his flight first landed the day before - but whom he told basically go fuck herself. Being a somewhat decent man, after all, Harvey attempts an apology.
After some initial resistance, Kate accepts it... and soon they are talking and joshing like instant friends. They spend the next day and night doing the following things: (1) walking along the banks of the Thames - and talking; (2) shopping for a dress for Kate to wear to Susan's reception, which they've decided to attend - and talking; (3) dancing like kids gone wild at the reception - and talking, (4) and sitting around a square and watching the sunrise - while talking.
Is this chance encounter the real thing? Are Kate and Harvey going to take this thing to the next level? Or will they part and just think of each other often? Is Harvey good enough for our Kate? Will Kate even allow another man into her heart? And if so, should it be Harvey? Can two people who stopped believing in happy endings a long time ago... actually have a happy ending now? Why is Emma Thompson so utterly awesome? And why hasn't she been declared a British National Treasure yet?
Find out for yourselves. Me? I want a sequel - if for no other reason than to admire Ms. Thompson standing under the refracted glow of the sun on the river Thames...
BUT, SERIOUSLY: Without Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman (especially Emma Thompson), LAST CHANCE HARVEY would be just a sweet, innocuous, above-average romantic comedy drama. Any story that echoes BEFORE SUNRISE or BEFORE SUNSET could never be average, by the virtue of the fact that so few movies attempt to go down that path these days. And the ones that do get made almost always range from above-average (CAIRO TIME) to very good (THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY) to spectacular (LOST IN TRANSLATION).
With Thompson and Hoffman present, however, LAST CHANCE HARVEY enters the realm of legitimately good movies. And it does so on the sheer emotional power and honesty of the leads' performances.
Harvey Shine is clearly one of those guys whose boyish earnestness was a magnetic draw when he was younger. But as everyone around him grew older, Harvey hasn't found a way to balance that child-like enthusiasm with mature wisdom. This has led to his family being fractured - and him essentially being put out to pasture, emotionally and psychologically. Hoffman finds all the levels of regret and sadness in Harvey, as well as the energy and vivacity that obviously made him a draw to women like Jean back in the day - and to Kate in the present. Hoffman manages to show the character's gentle disappointment with himself, but never wallows in it. Instead, he balances Harvey's occasional melancholy with a stubborn self-respect and dignity that basically says, "This is me. Love it or leave it. Your call. And your loss."
But the emotional heart of the film - bruised but still beating and ever resilient - is Emma Thompson as Kate Walker. Kate is a winning character, and almost a female mirror image of Harvey. She, too, wishes that some aspects of her life was different, but she's got a good job and family and focuses on that instead of self-pity. Her droll sense of humor also puts a no-nonsense spin on things that is refreshing.
This is not to say that Kate doesn't give in to her sadness occasionally. However, when she does so, she does it privately and keeps her own counsel - it's no one's business but her own. The scene where she escapes into the women's restroom and weeps during that disastrous blind date could've been a pathetic sight. However, neither the script nor the director nor Emma Thompson passes judgement on the character - and Thompson pulls the scene off with an admirable blend of dignity and restraint. Thompson basically makes Kate into a melange of dry humor, kindness, and hidden melancholy - with her kindness visible above all.
As for the supporting cast, Eileen Atkins is fine as Kate's quirky mother. Kathy Baker and James Brolin's characters don't really get much shading or fleshing out, but they seem to represent that sort of smug, entitled, self-righteous type of upper-middle-class American you sometimes encounter overseas - and whom you avoid like the plague. In any case, both Baker and Brolin are okay.
Liane Balaban as Susan has some very sweet scenes with Hoffman as her father. The scene where Susan tells Harvey she wants someone else to give her away is just heartbreaking. However, Harvey shows his generous heart by not holding this against her - and gives a very lovely speech at the wedding reception about how Susan has turned into strong and determined person - without losing any of her remarkable sensitivity and compassion for others.
In the end, LAST CHANCE HARVEY might have been a different movie if another pair of leads had been cast. I might have even accepted someone else in Hoffman's role, as decent as he is. But make no mistake: this movie would be far less enjoyable without Emma Thompson. I really don't think any other actresses could've provided the same spin on Kate Walker that she gives us. Which is why she is one of my top three favorite actresses....
