Review of The Last Word (2017) by Rebecca C — 19 Apr 2017

I was looking forward to seeing it, and then... was let down. I liked it, but didn't even come close to loving it. Something was just too predictable. Shirley MacLaine is awesome in what will probably be one of her last roles, and I am sure we will see more of AnnJewel Lee Dixon in the future. But Amanda Seyfried? Seemed mis-cast to me. I loved her in Mamma Mia but found her lacking here. Where did she come from? Why was she still in the same town as her dad? Wasn't there any college time where she would have been soul-searching? (It was mentioned in the film that she had worked there for 7 years, but must have had some journalism background). The close-ups of her googly-eyed stare were just annoying to me.

And plot holes / Weirdness abounds. Brenda was just allowed on a road-trip? And was a "problem child" because she reorganizes library books? An old lady walks into a radio station and is instantly on-air? Amanda can record-shop during the workday? Maybe some scenes ended up on the cutting floor, but there were some strange jumps to me. I liked the snarly scenes with Anne Heche.

To sum up: a good rental, but not worth the big screen.