Last Orders

TIFF [2001]

Michael Caine

(UK, 2001. 110 minutes)
Written and directed by Fred Schepisi
Based on a novel by Graham Swift
Cast: Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Ray Winstone

Movie Review

Fred Schepisi isn't a director that comes to mind when I'm asked to name a favorite, but looking at his filmography, I find myself surprised at how many I've seen and really like -- "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith", "Plenty", "Roxanne", "A Cry in the Dark", "Six Degrees of Separation". I can now add his latest to that esteemed list: a simple and lovely film about memories, loss, joy and reconciliation, "Last Orders" brings together some of the best British actors in a must-see for fans of any one of them.

Tom Courtenay, Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine

Jack Dodd (Michael Caine) has just passed away. His three best friends (Tom Courtenay, Bob Hoskins and David Hemmings) and his son (Ray Winstone) are taking his ashes to a seaside town where he had honeymooned with his wife (Helen Mirren) and where he hoped to retire. As they journey, the four men work through their grief and unique memories of Jack. Meanwhile, Jack's wife, instead of accompanying the men on the trip, makes her usual visit to the mentally disabled daughter that Jack refused to acknowledge and deals with her loss in her own way. Through flashbacks that take the friends through love, war, joy and sorrow, their lives are reconstructed through their connections to this one man.

When I exited the theatre after this film, I found out that terrorists had flown planes into the World Trade Centre in New York City. In fact, there was supposed to be a question and answer session with Fred Schepisi and some of the actors, which was cancelled. I admit I whined a little bit; we weren't given the specific reason and at that point many of us still had no idea of the events of the morning. But when I exited the theatre and saw hundreds of people staring up at a Jumbotron on top of a building at Yonge and Bloor streets at the image of New York City literally on fire - and then got my own horrified eyeful - I got over that pretty quick.

Talk Back

So from now on, when people ask me where I was when the World Trade Centre was destroyed, my answer will be, "I was watching this lovely little film by Fred Schepisi called Last Orders." So I'll try my best to write a review that reflects the warmth and humanity of this film, which is now forever linked for me to the worst act of terrorism the world has ever seen.

It's a story at once very simple and also complex; Schepisi, as screenwriter and director, juggles each character's recollections and emotions as they work through their grief at Jack's death, and a lot of stuff (I mean a LOT) has to be waded through. But it's balanced and thoughtful, never confusing even though it leaps between scenes of the present and the past, right back to World War II (at which point much younger actors step in for the veterans). However, Michael Caine, Mirren, Hoskins, Courtenay and Hemmings take their characters on when they'd probably be in their mid-40s and carry them up to probably their late 60s, and it all works. Helen Mirren is especially effective in this transition; simple changes in the expressions on her face reflect the aging of her character in ways that makeup never could. Bob Hoskins' sensitive gambler, David Hemmings' scrappy drunk and Tom Courtenay's thoughtful family man are not mere archetypes but fully formed characters who are brought to life in small details in the visuals and dialogue. The same is true with the relationship between Jack and his son; scenes of just a couple of lines of dialogue speak volumes, especially when performed by actors of this calibre.

My only quibble is the sort of soap-opera-ish tone that seeps its way in through some of the later developments in the story; but that's pretty minor. Just seeing these people interact on the screen together makes this a worthwhile feature to catch.

- Lidia Ferrari

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