DVD Review - Last Night

Keira Knightley and
Sam Worthington in "Last Night"

This movie builds itself on a single question. Which one of a married couple is going to have an affair? Will the husband cheat or will the wife cheat? Both are given motive and opportunity. The events take place all in one evening and the only thing that keeps you even slightly interested is seeing who is going to cross the infidelity finish line.

Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) star as Michael and Joanna respectively. They're married. Michael is in real estate and Joanna is a writer. Michael goes on a business trip from New York City to Philadelphia with his beautiful co-worker, Laura, played by Eva Mendes. Joanna stays in Manhattan where she bumps into her French ex-boyfriend, Alex, played by Guillaume Canet.

The two couples resist for a while, but they do things throughout the night that do nothing but bring them closer. Sex is definitely in the air between both couples. Tension grows with every moment that passes. The cinematography isn't all that great, but the actors have enough emotional charge to keep the film above water.

I also enjoyed the fact that all four characters are of different nationalities. It's an interesting and diverse group. Michael is Australian. Joanna is British. Laura is Hispanic and Alex is French. It matches the true nationalities of the actors playing the characters and instead of trying to mask that fact the filmmakers embraced it. I'd be curious if the script called for those specific nationalities, but, if not, kudos to the casting director for adding flavor to the screen.

There have been so many movies and TV shows that have had to do scenes with two people talking on the telephone. These days, those scenes are by cell phone. Generally, those scenes serve a basic function. Sometimes, they're surprising in their character development or emotional depth. Here, there is a phone scene like that. It's a desperate phone call that one spouse makes to the other and the performances of the two on opposite ends are great, if brief. It's almost a perfect expression of suspicion and guilt.

The very final scene and in fact very final frame is an almost perfect expression of suspicion and guilt. I thought it was a nice punch to conclude the film. What happens directly before that though is rather predictable. The whole time, we question if the husband or the wife is going to cheat, or if both are or if neither are, and the answer was again predictable. It's the obvious route for the movie to go and it was ultimately disappointing.

Three Stars out of Five
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 30 mins.