LAST ORDERS

In LAST ORDERS, four men, Ray, Vince, Lenny, and Vic, take a journey to the sea to dump the ashes of Vince’s father, Jack, into the ocean off the coast of England. As they make their way through beautiful landscapes and a series of pubs on a cold, rainy day, the men remember Jack, an ordinary guy and lifelong butcher, but charismatic man, who affected all of their lives in important ways. Meanwhile, Jack’s wife Amy takes a last journey to visit their daughter, a mentally handicapped woman who could never recognize her mother and whom Jack could never love. Secrets are revealed during these sad journeys, as the movie flashes back to the past. In fact, one of the recurring refrains in the movie’s dialogue is when people jokingly tell other people who have asked them a question, “That would be telling,” as if they have some big secret to keep.

LAST ORDERS focuses on the lives of the four older men, Jack, Ray, Lenny, and Vic. Vince, the son’s, regrets about his strained relationship with his father, Jack, also take center stage frequently in this drawn-out drama. As such, LAST ORDERS might remind many old cinephiles of the “kitchen sink” dramas that led to a renaissance in British cinema during the late 1950s. In fact, Tom Courtenay, one of the stars who came to prominence in that movement, plays Vic, the wise, bemused funeral director and friend who tries to keep the men on track. LAST ORDERS also stars cinematic legend Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins of ROGER RABBIT fame, Helen Mirren of the PRIME SUSPECT television mystery series and countless movies since 1973, Ray Winstone of SEXY BEAST, and David Hemmings of the 1960s cult classic BLOW UP. Thus, older audiences might appreciate this movie more than other viewers.

Despite the fine acting, LAST ORDERS lacks a consistent, compelling dramatic focus beyond the story’s focus on the trip that the men are making to cast Jack’s ashes into the sea. Like their journey, the lives of these men, and Jack’s wife Amy, have their ups and downs. Not only can’t you count on your marriage and family to keep you happy, but you sometimes can’t even count on your friends. Then, there’s a wistful but tragic sigh as each character, and every viewer, becomes aware, more than once, about the reality of the dreaded fingers of death that cut down Jack, who was somehow always bigger than life.

There is no hope of Heaven or resurrection in LAST ORDERS. In fact, there is some brief negative talk about God and the oblivion that apparently has hit Jack. Thus, the movie only offers viewers an unsatisfying humanist nostalgia with pagan lusts and conflicts. There also seems to be a negative view about the allegedly empty lives of the mentally handicapped, which has an uncomfortable, but very vague, echo of the awful humanist movement called euthanasia or “mercy” killing. One of the few solid hopeful notes in LAST ORDERS is that, on his deathbed, Jack expresses concern for Amy’s future, so he has his buddy Ray put into play a plan that will take care of Jack’s debts and keep his wife happy after his death. The plan involves some gambling, however. So, even that part of the movie is tainted.