Review of Last Days (2014) by Tyler R — 05 Aug 2007
This is just terrible. I can't even be bothered to write it a proper review. Gus van Sant's more than capable of making challenging, intense films: just see 'Elephant'. But this ain't one of them.
Wrapped in a haze of drug-addled grunge chic, 'Last Days' reeks of (and I use this word carefully) narcissism. Of course the irony here is that, Kurt Cobain or no, Van Sant's subject matter seems largely preoccupied with self-loathing.
Yet the decadent downward spiral 'Last Days' depicts really has much less to say than it thinks, and, unlike the musical movement it so devotedly makes a microcosm of, the film really is a case of style over substance.
The theme os parasitism is touched on nicely at several points, whether it's the reference to the Velvet Underground's 'Venus in Furs' or the more direct scene where an indifferent Blake has his money stolen.
But as early as the halfway point the film had lost my attention. For the final component of Van Sant's 'Death trilogy', 'Last Days' goes out with more of whimper than a bang.
This review of Last Days (2014) was written by Tyler R on 05 Aug 2007.
Last Days has generally received positive reviews.
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