Women On Film – “Last Chance Harvey” – Joanna Langfield reviews
I shudder to think what this one would have been like without its two, effervescent stars.
Joel Hopkins’ middle aged (she noted charitably) love story is wafer thin and could easily have been the stuff of some perfectly pleasant made for cable movie. But. As luck would have it, two of our most engaging film veterans found their way to this script, or it found its way to them, and the marriage of all parties works out for everybody.
Clearly, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are having a ball, playing two losers at love, people on the north side of shall we say 45, who’re just about convinced it’s simply not in the cards for them to find a partner who makes them laugh, cry or even show up. A chance meeting at a London airport changes all that, but not until our loveable lonelyhearts put each other through wringer after wringer.
Thompson betrays a confidence on screen here that is joyful to behold; Hoffman, who has blossomed into his acting generation’s movie mensch, is irresistible. This “last chance” is a warm hearted, fluffy treat.