The Last Word (2008/Image Entertainment Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture:
B-/C Sound: B-/C+ Extras: D Feature: D
In a
strange idea for a film, Wes Bentley plays a guy who writes suicide notes for
people (and never goes to jail for it?) whose life is going nowhere until he
meets the sister of one of soon to be dead clients, his life could finally
change for the better. Could it get
worse? Winona Ryder is that woman in
Geoffrey Haley’s The Last Word (2008),
a project that has aspiration to be a romantic comedy, Heathers, American Beauty
and anything else it can throw in.
Unfortunately, this is a mess.
For a
wacky premise that could promise something different (we thought of Harold & Maude too), it still seems
like everything we have seen before.
When the makers have nowhere to go, Ray Romano shows up and that is the
end of all of it. Any hopes it had to be
taken seriously goes right out the window when the quintessential bad sitcom
star turns up and it all seems calculated to be a cult film, but formula is
formula and you’ve seen it all before.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is very hazy throughout, with a lack of
definition and depth that makes watching unpleasant. The anamorphically enhanced DVD is even
worse, pale and Video Black is an issue.
The DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix is from a low-budget,
dialogue-based soundmix and really stretches out the sound, but has more
fullness than the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in both formats. Neither have a great soundfield. Extras include stills, deleted scenes and a
trailer gallery.
- Nicholas Sheffo
