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Review: Last Chance Harvey

A Lifetime TV movie with better leads
By BRETT MICHEL  |  January 13, 2009
2.0 2.0 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for Last Chance Harvey

Between them, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson have four Oscars, so it's hardly surprising to see them paired up in director Joel Hopkins's attempt at Oscar bait. In 2001, Hopkins charmed the arthouse crowd with his quirky romance Jump Tomorrow.

Last ChanceHarvey offers less quirk than convention; but for the leads, this is the kind of pleasant little film you'd expect to find on Lifetime. Yet with Hoffman as Harvey, a New Yorker who's become a dinosaur in his job as a jingle writer, Hopkins's slight film manages to beguile.

Harvey is in London for the wedding of his estranged daughter, but he has to leave early for an important meeting or he'll get the sack. Skipping the reception, he still misses his flight, but he does catch the eye of airport employee Kate (Thompson), and perhaps that's a new beginning. Although Hoffmann and Thompson won't win Oscars this time out, it likely won't be their last chance.

Related: Review: ''The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2009'', Oscar predictions: Liberal gilt, The Oscars go to Hell, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Dustin Hoffman,  More more >
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