140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Let’s hear it for indies that still dare to stubbornly make non-sequel/non-comic book, original films depicting real emotions & experiences.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Last Time You Had Fun:
Do you know how many great little movies come out every year that you never hear about? It’s sort of ridiculous. I try to focus on a lot of them on this site, but I can’t come close to keeping up with them. Some I watch and never get around to reviewing; many more just slip through the cracks.
The Last Time You Had Fun is a cute little film from Director Mo Perkins, writer Hal Haberman & Producer Drea Clark, focusing on a group of thirty-somethings on a single night in Los Angeles. That summary could be applied to about five other indie films every year, really, but that doesn’t mean that any of them are unworthy of your attention; quite the opposite. Any film reduced to its most basic plot recap sounds trite.
Featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Kyle Bornhiemer, Eliza Coupe, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Demetri Martin, The Last Time You Had Fun is messy & complicated, just like life.
The Last Time You Had Fun follows two duos; sad sack Clark (Bornhiemer) and over-confident lawyer Will (Martin) & presumably stable Alison (Ellis) and her basket case sister Ida (Coupe).
Clark has gotten divorced earlier in the day and his best friend Will is trying to draw him out by throwing a divorce party; basically just trying to get Clark out of the house. Will succeeds in getting Clark to leave his teenage kids at home, but not in getting him to change out of his sweatpants.
Meanwhile, Alison’s seemingly normal home life is disrupted by the arrival of Ida, constantly reeling from her busted marriage and trying to sort it all out.
The four meet-cute at a wine bar and proceed to spend the night trying to reclaim some of their carefree youth.
If the picture were longer it wouldn’t be as effective; it’s great at a modest 82 minutes. The pace is just right – the action keeps moving, yet it retains that late night out vibe and the quiet moments that are so natural on an all-nighter. As the group wanders around the city trading carefree partying with brutal honesty, the constant presence of reality keeps bringing them down to Earth. They can try all sorts of “wild” things like sticking up through the moon roof of a limo “it always looks so fun in the movies” and acquiring marijuana, but nothing can shield them from the fact that these escapades are not only things of their past, but woefully inadequate in shaking up the ennui of life. Instead of feeling younger for their adventures, they likely feel even older.
All of the acting is fantastic; standouts are Bornhiemer, who had a small but fun part in She’s Out of My League, and Coupe from the world’s funniest too-soon-canceled show, Happy Endings. The funniest character in the picture, however, may be Betty (Charlyne Yi), their young limo driver, who wearily carts these would-be adventurers around town all night.
Most effective for a similarly aged audience, The Last Time You Had Fun remains an easy recommendation.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: B (7 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Kyle Bornheimer Clark Eliza Coupe Ida Mary Elizabeth Ellis Alison Demetri Martin Will |
| Rating | |
| Release Date | 2014 |
| Director | Mo Perkins |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama |
| Plot | When Clark and Will meet Alison and Ida in a wine bar, the foursome struggle to have the most fun that four, bickering, barely married, pre-middle-aged, decidedly dysfunctional adults are capable of having. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 82 |
| Tagline | |
| Writers | Hal Haberman (writer) |
| Year | 2014 |
