Last Looks – Lacks the Style
Director: Tim Kirkby
Writer: Howard Michael Gould (Screenplay)
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Mel Gibson, Lucy Fry, Rupert Friend, Morena Baccarin, Jacob Scipio, Clancy Brown, Robin Givens
Plot: A disgraced ex-cop seeks solace by moving to the woods, but his quiet life comes to an end when a private eye recruits him to investigate a murder.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Last Looks starts as a disgraced ex-cop Charlie Webb (Hunnam) has moved towards a quieter life of solace away from the world in the woods. Charlie will find his life turned upside down when a private eye recruits him to investigate the murder of famous actor Alastair Punch’s (Gibson) wife.
As Charlie looks to dive deeper into the events of the death, he meets a host of different people who claim to have been involved, as he must piece together the truth.
Thoughts on Last Looks
Characters & Performances – Charlie Webb is the disgraced former cop that has decided to go off the radar after his career went wrong, he has found peace in his solitude. Charlie is forced to come out of hiding to using his detective skills to search for the answers over a murder of an actor’s wife, this will see him clash with former connections as he looks to uncover the truth. This will give him a new motivation in life, as he gets back into the work that he is an expert in. Charlie Hunnam is the best performance in the film here, while he is looking to capture the essence of the quirky detective in the past, never getting to the highest level. Alastair Punch is an English actor and star of a television show, he is aware that he is the star of the show believing he is entitled to everything, but his wife is the one that has been killed, with him being one of the prime suspects. This movie does give us a lot of characters, who could all be suspects, though it does seem to hold a lot back because we don’t get into enough of the motivations the characters could get into. Mel Gibson is hard to watch in this role, which does feel like more of a cartoon character than a pompous actor.
Story – The story here will follow a disgraced cop turn private eye that is asked to help investigate the murder of a famous actor’s wife, sending him down the spiralling series of clues that see his past coming back to haunt him. Last Looks does seem to want to capture the magic of other slick styled detective movies, only falling short, because not enough of the world of characters seems to come off on the strongest levels the film is aiming for. We do seem to meet too many characters, with the twists in the story not coming off as strong as they should do either. The story does feel flatter than it believes it is, not giving enough into the case in the first place.
Themes – Last Looks is a crime thriller set in LA, as the detective must navigate the streets as he is looking for answers. As we enter the world filled with colourful characters along the way. The crime story doesn’t seem to get enough of the spotlight, as we see the film focusing more on the characters over anything else.
Signature Entertainment presents Last Looks on Digital Platforms 10th June & DVD 13th June.
Final Thoughts – Last Looks doesn’t have the magic spark it needs to standout.
