POISON SCOOTER

The Last Kiss

The Last Kiss was nothing like I had expected it to be. Upon seeing several trailers for it before its release, I thought that I had a good idea of what was going to happen in the movie, which was: boy thinks he's in love, meets a rad girl, and said rad girl shows him that he was able to make different choices in his life, that he didn't have to "settle". But the real world doesn't work that way, does it?

Loveable Zach Braff plays Michael, a 29 year old man who seemingly has a life that most would kill for. His core group of friends are in similar situations. This movie, much like Garden State, deals with the troubles of breaching adulthood. It explores the finality of youth and how most individuals have an extremely hard time letting go. Braff's character meets a younger woman at a wedding, Kim, played by Rachel Bilson. Kim openly flirts with him and gives him her phone number, leaving Michael confused and somewhat titillated. Braff does a wonderful job of conveying different emotions and feelings just through a twitch of an eye or a gesture. The scenes where he is simply by himself, fighting his inner demons, are the ones that compelled me the most.

In this movie, writer Paul Haggis attempts to convey real-life scenarios and how these troubled relationships would work out in reality. I feel that he has done a wonderful job at this; it is much more believable for Michael to have a horrible time with Kim than a good one--Bilson's character is loathable the second she opens her mouth and hits on someone who isn't available.

Jacinda Barrett also holds her own as Jenna, Michael's girlfriend. She has made some wonderful career moves since her Real World days, and I'm excited to see her in future performances.

The Last Kiss was quite surprising, and quite good. I'm starting to think that Zach Braff has a King Midas thing going on.

posted by jooliepoison @ 2:54 PM