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One Last Thing . . .

Contains no coincidences, just poor writing

By PETER KEOUGH | May 3, 2006

1.5 Stars

Michael Angarano and Cynthia Nixon in One Last Thing . . .

Sex, death, and obsessive love: what could be truer to the adolescent experience? And what could be truer to Hollywood than homogenizing an edgy premise into a parfait? Dylan (given dignity by Michael Angarano) is 16 and terminally ill. He’s supposed to appear on a “Make a Wish” program and say he wants to go fishing with a football star. Instead he says he wants to spend the weekend with supermodel Nikki Sinclair (Sunny Mabrey). Most of the other kids high-five him for his subversiveness. Some of the adults, though, like director Alex Steyermark, want him to get with the program. So Dylan seeks faith in the form of his dead father. Nikki seeks redemption from her empty life. A trip to Manhattan conjures ghosts and magical cabdrivers. When the football star starts to hit on Dylan’s mother (Cynthia Nixon), I asked myself, what happened to the story about a dying kid who wants to get laid? “This is not a coincidence,” says one mystical character. Just bad scriptwriting.

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Watch the trailer for One Last Thing (QuickTime)

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