Movie #2172 "The Last Word" (Netflix DVD) I saw a trailer for this one and wondered why I hadn't seen it --- went to netflix and it was in my queue, so I just moved it up to 1 and received it in the mail and voila --- I'm glad I watched it because it could be Shirley Maclaine's Last hurrah. Why? Because she does the whole gamut here..... the film allows her to dance and sing (which she came to Hollywood to do in the first place, but not a lot of people know that), and do the "strange" out- of -the -box stuff ( for example, at 80, she strips to her underwear and jumps into a body of water with two other "gals" - it's an intergenerational leap of unity, I would think she'd say.) She's known mostly now for her mystical thinking, and that's even covered here because the film deals with death --- her death ---- and how she doesn't feel like she's going to be remembered; so just when the elderly are thought to fold up and just live out their dying years, she takes a stand (several, actually) to never be forgotten ------but, in true MacLaine fashion, she is her own person throughout --- glib, peckish, judgmental , with no filter on her at all. She pushes people away most of the time, but there's something about her that makes her somewhat endearing .....and Maclaine, the supreme actress (one of the best of our generation) is able to carry it off. I'd give it 4 out of 5, with a big shout out to Amanda Seyfried (again) holding up her end of the film, along with the little girl they both befriend. My favorite line from the film: "She puts the 'bitch' in obituary!"
"THE LAST WORD" 2917 R 1 HOUR AND 48 MINS
Harriet is a retired businesswoman who tries to control everything around her . When she decides to write her own obituary, a young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, resulting in a life-altering friendship.
Director: Mark Pellington
Writer: Stuart Ross Fink
Actors: Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, AnnJewel Lee Dixon
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