Directed by Paolo Pilladi
Written by Paolo Pilladi and Greg Lingo
Starring Jeremy Piven, Taryn Manning, Zach McGowan, Jamie Kennedy and Bruce Dern
Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes
Available for rental and open in select theaters on March 19th
*Playing in the Philadelphia area at the Landmark Ritz Five and the Penn Cinema Riverfront

by Matt McCafferty, Staff Writer

It’s never fun for me to write about a movie that I’m completely negative on. I don’t feel this way all that often about a film, but it happens every now and then. If you read any of my previous reviews, you will see that no matter what angle I come from, I like to spend time exploring both the positive and negative aspects that stand out to me after I watch something. Very few films are so perfect that I love everything about them. And vice versa, very few films are so bad that there was nothing about them that I couldn’t appreciate on some level.

Last Call was a tough watch for me because I really struggled to come away with positive things to appreciate. When I first watched the trailer and read the plot description, this looked like a movie I might like. It looked like it was trying to be something like a Judd Apatow comedy. Not only am I a huge Apatow fan, but I’m always on the lookout for a good comedy. Unfortunately, Last Call never seemed to find its bearings. A film that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be funny, heartfelt, raunchy or a serious drama.

The story centers around Mick (Jeremy Piven), who returns home to Darby Heights, Pennsylvania for his mom’s funeral. Mick is apparently one of the only people from his childhood who left the neighborhood in search of a life outside the Heights. Now a successful real estate developer, he finds himself caught up in the financial issues and hardships that still affect most of his childhood friends and acquaintances. At the center of these issues is his family-owned bar that is bankrupt and likely soon to close. He’s also tasked by his real estate mogul boss to collect signatures for a petition to get a casino built in town.

Describing the plot is surprisingly difficult. Not only does the film change directions left and right with its tone as I mentioned earlier, but it also does the same with its storylines. There’s a subplot involving Mick rekindling his feelings with his childhood crush Ali (Taryn Manning), the family bar possibly shutting down, Mick’s brother (Zach McGowan) getting into trouble with the law, his dad’s dream side-business of running a crab boat, the ramifications of a casino possibility coming into town, and Mick constantly trying to figure out how he fits in with the people who he left behind from his old life in Darby Heights. It’s impossible to feel invested in any of these storylines because none of them get enough time to develop themselves into anything meaningful.

Even if the story wasn’t all over the place, I could still get over this fault if there were some other redeeming qualities that stood out. But unfortunately, not much else worked for me. Most notably, its attempt at being a comedy was a complete bust. And yes, Last Call is primarily trying to be a comedy. It tries hard to emulate the tight knit slacker group of guys that Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith have mostly mastered in the past. But instead of developing a group of characters that display a genuine sense of comradery, there’s a forced feel to all of their conversations. Even the way they curse feels unnatural most of the time.

I wish I could come up with some positive things to say about the film, but it’s really a complete misfire all around. The soundtrack would be the only real highlight that stood out to me at times. I’m not familiar with the songs or the artists, but some of them gave me Kurt Vile vibes. Maybe that was the intention here as a sort-of connection to Philadelphia.

There’s no question that the timing of its release is meant to tie in with St. Patrick’s Day. The Irish neighborhood, the pubs, the car bombs and all the heavy day-drinking scenes are intended to make this a fun drinking movie that you might get together to watch with friends around St. Patrick’s Day. But I can promise you, if you are looking for a comedy or an Irish movie, there are much better choices out there.