Review: Last Day (B)

The Last Day (2005)
Directed by Rodolphe Marconi
Starring Gaspard Ulliel, Nicole Garcia, Melanie Laurent, Bruno Todeschini and Alysson Paridis
MPAA: UR
Grade: B

Review by Sebastian Francis Kennedy

It may be a weakness, but I like French film. I still fall for them every time. The Last Day, the latest from Rodolphe Marconi is an excellent story about how lives change.. and stay the same.

Gaspard Ulliel stars as Simon, a young artist that returns to his family during the Christmas holiday. He has brought along Louise, a beautiful young girl (17 actually) that he has met on the train. His family is bounding in all kinds of directions, perhaps too many at once. His sister is depressed and angry, his father is upset with his life, and his mother is still hoping for the best for the family. Everyone goes through changes, but for this family, they all seem to occur at once.

Simon and Louise have an attraction and she is welcomed into the family. What the family does not know is that they are not officially a couple. Love is complicated, and The Last Day highlights these complexities at length.

A little slow, but well directed (and acted), The Last Day is a fine film that shows the changes that families go through, especially as the family matures.