Review of Last Chance Harvey (2008) by Spangle — 22 Sep 2017

Cute and fluffy, Last Chance Harvey is unchallenging cinema with two fantastic leads as Emma Thompson generously gives geriatric Dustin Hoffman one last shot at love in spite of the fact that he is a horribly neglectful father. Fortunately, as a Manic Pixie Dream Middle-Aged Woman, Thompson's neurotic, always understanding, up for anything that benefits Harvey (Hoffman) after knowing him for a day, and easily alterable schedule, character hardly cares. The age gap - and Hoffman's appearance - are so bad that I initially thought that he was playing her father with Thompson's Kate being tasked with setting her aging father up with some other woman from the home. It is only later that I realized that, no, they were meant to be together. Though Hoffman may look a young 71, Thompson was still about 49 in this film. If she was gold digging, she may as well marry some guy closer to the grave or who at least has any gold. A cliche, simplistic, and largely run-of-the-mill romantic comedy about an old man finding out what finally matters: family and love. Though a cliched and predictable scrap heap of romance genre cliches, Last Chance Harvey somehow does work. Its success is perhaps because it is often adorable, but largely can be credited to its leads. While Hoffman and Thompson have a considerable age difference between them, they nonetheless click. Playing off one another very naturally when given the room to do so, the pairing does make sense when they just walk around London and chat. Displaying great chemistry and their usual wit, the happy couple work perfectly with one another and truly sell the romance. Though the writing is often slack, the earnestness of Hoffman's performance and the manic turn from Thompson do bring life to the dialogue and plot. Allowing the audience to truly feel their every emotion - namely Harvey at his daughter's wedding in his speech or Kate as she tries to wrap her around a man wanting her again - Last Chance Harvey manages to be a film that is oddly affecting and always adorable. Without Hoffman and Thompson at the center of this film, Last Chance Harvey would just be a dull, predictable, and dry romantic comedy that somehow everyone's parents have a copy of that has a permanent home on the bookshelf.

However, what does truly hold this film back is its plot. Contrived and predictable, the plot just never works. For the former, Last Chance Harvey seems to operate in some alternate universe. On the day of his daughter's wedding, Harvey wants to get back to New York on a flight at 1:30 PM from London. Skipping out on the reception to do so, he nonetheless arrives late and states that the flight is about forty minutes from taking off. Placing his late arrival at about 12:50, the traffic beforehand likely means his daughter's ceremony began between 11:00-11:30. From there, he went to the airport where he was late. Meeting Kate, having a late lunch with her, getting a drink with her, walking around with her through the airport, racing to catch up with her to go to a totally different part of London instead of going to his hotel, walking around London, waiting around for her as she goes to a writing class for an hour, and then walking around again, Harvey clearly has a rather full day. By the time it is over, it is revealed that is approximately 7:00 PM. Stating that he left the wedding before the reception, which he says is likely over by now, Kate tries to get him to make it right before the end. Successfully convincing Harvey to go to his daughter's reception, the pair stop to buy Kate an appropriate dress for the occasion. Even if they rushed, the walk over, the trying on of multiple dresses, and the purchasing of them, likely places them leaving the store at around 8:00. Likely later. By the time they get back across town to where the reception is, it has to be about 8:45. Yet, fortunately enough, THE RECEPTION HAS NOT EVEN BEGUN. Harvey arrives just in time for the best man speech, the speech from the father, the father-daughter dance, and all of the partying. I understand, of course, that the reception may not start until later in the evening if the ceremony is so early in the day, but damn. How late did they intend on starting? Why did Harvey think it would be over if he should have known damn well that it did not start until about 9:00 PM? Why did everybody stay? If a wedding I attended had a reception that started no less than 10 hours after the ceremony started, I would have bolted. Even if I intended to stay, the suicidal thoughts that started around hour three of waiting for Harvey to finally arrive would have seen me book it for the door. Yet, no, the full house is eager and ready to go. Timing the start of the reception with when Harvey finally arrives - even though he was not expected to be there - there seems to be no animosity or confusion as to why the reception literally refused to ever start. Presumably it was delayed, as everybody is still dressed up.