Last Chance Harvey - Movie Review and Synopsis

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Last Chance Harvey During a weekend in which Harvey Shine (Hoffman) travels to London for his daughter’s wedding, her first learns that he’s lost his job back in New York, then he discovers he won’t be the man giving away the bride at the ceremony. The one good thing that happens — his meeting Kate (Thompson), a prickly but nevertheless enchanting Londoner — might be the beginning of some much-needed change in Harvey’s life.

Writer-director Joel Hopkins explored romantic complications in his debut, Jump Tomorrow, which was embraced by indie circles on both sides of the Atlantic. Now he steps up to the majors with a potential awards contender (now that The Road and The Soloist have been pushed to 2009, Oscar buzz has trickled down to smaller films such as Harvey). I wouldn’t be surprised if Hoffman and Thompson are positioned for nominations, and considering the story’s Before Sunrise tones (albeit for the generation ahead of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), a Best Original Screenplay nomination is not out of the question.

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Director: Joel Hopkins
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Kathy Baker,
Studio: Overture Films