Director: Amanda Sharp
Writer: Amanda Sharp (Screenplay)
Starring: Ray Liotta, Rose Leslie, Justin Bartha, Gina Rodriguez, Carmen Tonry
Plot: A story about love and loss. And maybe one day – love again.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Dream Chasing Drama
Story: The Last Dance starts as we meet Athena (Leslie) a determined dancer still trying to prove herself in her field, she lets off steam with one-night-stands, with her latest one Bryan (Bartha) getting interrupted by her father Jack (Liotta) who announces he has cancer.
Jack calls Athena back to start his treatment with his 6-year-old daughter Honey Bunny (Tonry) which will lead to Athena needing to make the big decision about her future, right when her biggest opportunity comes his way.
Thoughts on The Last Dance
Characters – Athena has been working on her career in dancing, she is finally about to take the biggest chance of her career, until her father arrives barely bad news. She is left to decide whether to support her father or follow her dreams. Jack is the father who is set in his old ways in life, which sees his call his daughter back to help him through his cancer struggles, as he is left to see if she will stay with him to help him, while raising his 6-year-old daughter. Honey Bunny is the youngster daughter in of Jack’s she has an adventurous childhood, she has followed in his footsteps with what she has been taught. Bryan is the new guy that walks into Athena’s life for a one-night stand only to be one of the best friends through the struggles. Natalia is the oldest friend to Athena who is there for her when she returns home.
Performances – Rose Leslie is strong in the leading role showing that she does have a career after Game of Thrones. Ray Liotta gives one of his best modern day performances. Justin Bartha and Gina Rodriguez are solid when we see them, but sadly do see to have limited screen time.
Story – The story follows a young lady who has been chasing her dreams only to see them come crashing down when her father is struck down with cancer, forcing her to care for him before ultimately needing to make the biggest decision of her life and learn to let people into her life once again. The story here does give us a wonderful family dynamic which shows the differences between the three generations that show how life has changed. This story however does have a major twist in the final act which turns a lot of what we have seen on its head, it also does confuse certain scenes though.
Comedy – The comedy in this film comes from how the three interact, it can get a laugh when needed to move the story and show how they can have inside jokes.
Settings – The film uses too main settings, LA where the dreams are and Florida where Jack is, the two locations show the decision that Athena must make.
Scene of the Movie – For my Honey Bunny.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t get enough from the supporting characters.
Final Thoughts – This is a drama that does hit home hard once we see the story of how the film ends, it shows how seeing a family member suffer will make life for anybody.
Overall: Hard Hitting drama.
Rating
