At first glance, 'The Last Shot' appears to have all of the trappings of extremely hilarious comedy of misadventures, misconceptions, and misunderstandings. But in retrospect, it was only moderately so, and probably because of much of the deadpan acting and not enough quirkiness within each character (not one of which that would border on characters common to spoof, but more of a deviation that would at least make the situations seem much more bizarre and humorous). Perhaps if Stanley Tucci (see The Imposters) or Martin Scorcese (see After Hours and Search & Destroy) had been given this material, the results would've been much better.
This is the story of a federal agent (Alec Baldwin) trailing a mobster (Tony Shaloub) who has been involved with teamster corruption. The agent poses as a producer and picks up some shmoe writer (Matthew Broderick) who has been desperately trying to sell his script and, as this producer, claims he will finance the film, and even asking the writer--already astounded by the ease at which his film has been approved by this producer--to direct. The director believes he has found his golden opportunity, while the half-hearted "producer" is only interested in getting as far as necessary so that he can initiate a deal with the teamsters and nab his guy. What may seem like comparable to the hilarious mockumentary, 'Cannes Man,' in fact only tends to provide such extremes only in unusual intervals. Perhaps for lack of material, or not enough of a story to go on, the resulting comedy is at best a mediocre one with the potential to be much better.
Props, however, to Toni Collette (always an excellent actress) for playing the bizarre, self-indulgent Emily French, and Joan Cusak (wasted here in a minor role) as the neurotic producer and the agent's mentor.
This is the story of a federal agent (Alec Baldwin) trailing a mobster (Tony Shaloub) who has been involved with teamster corruption. The agent poses as a producer and picks up some shmoe writer (Matthew Broderick) who has been desperately trying to sell his script and, as this producer, claims he will finance the film, and even asking the writer--already astounded by the ease at which his film has been approved by this producer--to direct. The director believes he has found his golden opportunity, while the half-hearted "producer" is only interested in getting as far as necessary so that he can initiate a deal with the teamsters and nab his guy. What may seem like comparable to the hilarious mockumentary, 'Cannes Man,' in fact only tends to provide such extremes only in unusual intervals. Perhaps for lack of material, or not enough of a story to go on, the resulting comedy is at best a mediocre one with the potential to be much better.
Props, however, to Toni Collette (always an excellent actress) for playing the bizarre, self-indulgent Emily French, and Joan Cusak (wasted here in a minor role) as the neurotic producer and the agent's mentor.