THE LAST THING HE WANTED⭐️

THE LAST THING HE WANTED - To Watch This Movie? ⭐️

by armen pandola

Do you know that well-known Chinese curse: Be careful what you wish for, you may get it?

I have read that the star and director of The Last Thing He Wanted (TLTHW) made the movie they wanted to make with no interference from 'the suits.' That should have made me suspicious, immediately. The fact is, based on many 'director's cuts' I have seen, 'the suits' usually cut out the dross. In the case of TLTHW, that would have left them with a two minute movie.

Based on Joan Didion's 1996 novel of the same name, the story is about a reporter (Ann Hathaway) in 1984 who is covering that year's Presidential election between Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan - but she is unhappy because she wants to continue reporting on the CIA's war in Central America to keep tyrants in power.

Her father (William Defoe) is dying or sinking into senility, but seems to have gotten himself into an arms deal selling weapons to - well, somebody in Central America. It's his last chance to make a big score, but he's incapable of pulling it off, so he sends his only child to finish the deal.

Along the way, a CIA guy (Ben Affleck) and the reporter meet and, of course, end up in bed - has anyone in Hollywood realized that when a man and woman meet, even if the guy is Hollywood handsome, they don't always end up in bed? One of the great spoofs of Hollywood was made by Hollywood's own pirrah, Preston Sturges, the director/writer of Sullivan's Travels about a director who wants to find real people stories and ends up on a chain gang in the South in the 1930s. Here is Sullivan's conversation with a studio executive about a new project:

Sullivan: I want this picture to be a commentary on modern conditions. Stark realism. The problems that confront the average man!

LeBrand: But with a little sex in it.

Sullivan: A little, but I don’t want to stress it. I want this picture to be a document. I want to hold a mirror up to life. I want this to be a picture of dignity! A true canvas of the suffering of humanity!

LeBrand: But with a little sex in it.

Sullivan: [reluctantly] With a little sex in it.

LeBrand: How ‘bout a nice musical?

That was written almost 80 years ago - 80! Not much has changed.

Back to TLTHW. Supposedly Ben Affleck replaced Nicholas Cage who dropped out at the last minute, perhaps the only wise movie choice Cage has made in decades. Many reviews of the movie trumpet how the reviewer will 'explain' the plot. Let me do that for you: have you seen All The President's Men or any other movie about a reporter who has to fight her editors and the government but, finally, succeeds and truth and goodness triumph? TLTHW is just like that, but not good.

Finally, I have to say this since no one else seems to want to - Ann Hathaway is not a very good actress. Yes, she won an Oscar and yes, she has big button eyes, but she cannot act. The torrid romance between Aflleck and her has all the sizzle of a pan full of tofu. Both seem to be trying to out deadpan the other as each expresses all the emotions from A to B (sorry Ms. Parker, but luckily you are no longer with us and so can rest in peace).

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe as Richard McMahon, Edi Gathegi,

And Rosie Perez.

Director: Dee Rees

Writer (novel): Joan Didion Screenplay: Dee Rees and Marco Villalobos

Cinematographer: Bobby Bukowski

Editor: Mako Kamitsuna

Composer: Tamar-kali