Last Call

Stars: Jeremy Piven, Taryn Manning, Jack McGee, Zach McGowan, Bruce Dern, Cathy Moriarty, Jamie Kennedy, Cheri Oteri, Betsy Beutler, Jason James Richter, Garry Pastore

Director: Paolo Pilladi

Now this is the kind of film I really should like. Bay boy made good (Piven) returns from Philadelphia to his depressed coastal home town of Darby Heights for his mother's funeral, and hatches plans to build a casino to draw visitors to a place whose only industry seems to be crab-fishing. Or should he try to fight greedy developers who are closing down small businesses, including his father's bar?

Great, right? Sounds right up my alley. Wrong! The film is a shambles, poorly constructed and badly directed, at times seeming only existing as a backdrop for the cast to have a good time boozing heavily and shooting (shouting would be closer) the breeze, playing a collection of short-fused, largely unpleasant characters.

When a remark calls for a ripe riposte to make us smile, the writers can only come up with a flurry of expletives. Indeed, for a supposed comedy, the film's language is jarringly extreme with many of the cast, veteran Dern in particular, embarrassing themselves. The plot such as it is, is mainly composed of drunken partying scenes, broads in bikinis and a paper-thin romance between Piven (far, far from the glories of TV's Mr Selfridge) and a woefully underused Manning. A movie train-wreck.

On major digital platforms

David Quinlan

USA 2020. UK Distributor: The Movie Partnership. Colour (unspecified).
101 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 3.

Review date: 29 Mar 2021