Review of Last Chance Harvey (2008) by Sue T — 12 Jun 2009

The first half depends a little too heavily on us seeing the leads as slightly freakish social outcasts - over 40 and still single: perish the thought - in a way that a director closer in years to his characters probably wouldn't.

Still, even if we know exactly where all this is heading, Hopkins is in no rush to get there, and he's always looking out for signs of life to film en route... Em's mum's relationship with a Polish neighbour feels like an extraneous cross-cultural quirk left over from Hopkins' debut "Jump Tomorrow", and the final reel attempts a misty-eyed crib from "An Affair to Remember"; more typical, though, is a stroll the pair share across London on the way to Kate's creative writing class: a Film London-engineered spot of screen tourism, perhaps, and no more than a dawdle, really, but a sign of just how far Hopkins is prepared to wait and watch two characters allowing themselves the time to get to know one another.