Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 09/15/06 Home Video 12/26/06 MPAA Rating Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language Running Time 1 hour 55 minutes Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance Director Tony Goldwyn Writer Paul Haggis Cast Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Michael Weston, Eric Christian Olsen, Rachel Bilson, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson, Lauren Lee Smith, Marley Shelton Studio Dreamworks Pictures |
THE LAST KISS
SYNOPSIS
“The Last Kiss” is a contemporary comedy-drama
about life, love, infidelity, forgiveness, marriage,
friendship…and coming to grips with turning 30.
For Zach Braff, star of the new film "The Last Kiss"
from DreamWorks Pictures and Lakeshore
Entertainment, the film seemed to be a natural
progression from his role in his acclaimed film
"Garden State." "Whereas ‘Garden State' was about
being lost and confused in your mid-20s, this film is
about being lost and confused as you turn 30," says
Braff. "The film is about turning a major corner in your
life: settling down and starting a family, while still
clutching on to everything that was free, innocent, and
fun about being young."
Tony Goldwyn, who explored similar themes in "A Walk
on the Moon," directs the film. "What we had the
opportunity to do with ‘The Last Kiss' was to make a
comic drama about contemporary relationships that's
really funny, very sexy, and, most importantly, real,"
enthuses Goldwyn. "The screenplay takes a refreshing
and rather edgy look at the ideals we have about what
we imagine we want in our life partners, how we see
our lives going, and what we expect to achieve at
various stages of our lives. Somehow life never quite
works out like the ideal we envision. What do you do
when life happens to you?"
“The Last Kiss” is a contemporary comedy-drama
about life, love, infidelity, forgiveness, marriage,
friendship…and coming to grips with turning 30.
For Zach Braff, star of the new film "The Last Kiss"
from DreamWorks Pictures and Lakeshore
Entertainment, the film seemed to be a natural
progression from his role in his acclaimed film
"Garden State." "Whereas ‘Garden State' was about
being lost and confused in your mid-20s, this film is
about being lost and confused as you turn 30," says
Braff. "The film is about turning a major corner in your
life: settling down and starting a family, while still
clutching on to everything that was free, innocent, and
fun about being young."
Tony Goldwyn, who explored similar themes in "A Walk
on the Moon," directs the film. "What we had the
opportunity to do with ‘The Last Kiss' was to make a
comic drama about contemporary relationships that's
really funny, very sexy, and, most importantly, real,"
enthuses Goldwyn. "The screenplay takes a refreshing
and rather edgy look at the ideals we have about what
we imagine we want in our life partners, how we see
our lives going, and what we expect to achieve at
various stages of our lives. Somehow life never quite
works out like the ideal we envision. What do you do
when life happens to you?"
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
"The Last Kiss" began life as the Italian film "L'Ultimo Bacio." Nominated for 10 Davids (Italy's Oscar®),
including Best Film, and winner of five, the film had a profound effect on Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom
Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. "Two people told me about the Italian film in the same week - in fact, one
was Jacinda Barrett, who would have a role in ‘The Last Kiss," recalls Rosenberg. "I thought of it as a
coming of age film. When I was a kid, people faced adulthood at 20 or 21, but these kids in the movie are
29 going on 30, which I think is the new coming of age; it seems there's a bit of a prolonged adolescence
today. ‘L'Ultimo Bacio' dealt with a lot of issues young people face, but no one ever talks about, or they
talk about in an idealized, silly way."
"I loved ‘L'Ultimo Bacio,'" says Lucchesi, "and unlike many foreign films it seemed to lend itself naturally
to an American remake. I found the subject matter really fascinating and the content seemed to have an
American style to it."
Once Lakeshore had acquired the rights to the Italian film, the next step was to develop the screenplay.
"Paul Haggis was really the key," adds Lucchesi. "We'd worked with Paul before on the Lakeshore film
‘Autumn in New York' and we thought he'd be perfect for this material. We were right. He adapted the
screenplay for us and really nailed it. Subsequently, through our relationship with Paul, we heard that he'd
written this movie ‘Million Dollar Baby' that couldn't get financed. So we got involved with that picture and,
of course, it was a big Academy Award®-winner, including a Best Picture Oscar®."
"For ‘The Last Kiss,' I was most interested in what our lead character, Michael, was going through,"
explains Lucchesi. "That was something that I could relate to from a first hand point of view. Also, as a
father of two daughters, I imagined what kind of scene would occur if a father had to encounter a future
son-in-law who had cheated on his daughter. I thought that would be a very interesting and sort of
remarkable encounter.
"I also loved the message," continues Lucchesi. "Temptation is all around us; it's how we deal with it and
what lessons we've learned in the past that's important. Quite often, we have to learn those lessons on
our own. We can get advice from other people, but the advice they offer they've learned from the
experiences that they have had."
To direct the film, the producers turned to Tony Goldwyn, who had previously shown a light touch and
sensitivity with similar themes in his 1999 movie, "A Walk on the Moon." "Tony really responded to the
screenplay," recalls Rosenberg. "Gary and I thought he was the perfect choice for the material; when you
meet him, he's an intelligent, well-constructed, mature individual, and still an active actor, which is
invaluable for an actor's piece like ‘The Last Kiss.' Each director comes with certain strengths - knowing
how to direct films in a way that actors can appreciate is definitely a major strength for Tony."
"I loved ‘A Walk on the Moon,' Tony's first feature as a director," enthuses Lucchesi. "I thought it was a
magnificent movie, with terrific performances - it dealt with infidelity in a very kindly and elegant way. I
think you could say the same thing about the Diane Lane character that you could about Michael, the Zach
Braff character, in our film - her affair taught her something about herself and how to embrace her future
with her husband. Tony had the tools that made him perfect for dealing with our story and characters."
"When I directed ‘A Walk on the Moon,' I had never directed before, and in fact, I never had any ambitions
to direct," says Goldwyn. "I thought I wanted to produce and I found that film, but couldn't get a director
that I thought was right. I ended up directing it just to get it made and then discovered, wow, this is the
greatest job I ever had. Coming into the job an actor, I thought to myself, ‘What kind of atmosphere would
I, as an actor, want on the set in order to do my best work? I tried to emulate that and that's how I direct."
Coming onto ‘The Last Kiss,' Goldwyn was impressed by the ways that Paul Haggis's screenplay
adaptation presented its flawed characters with compassion and humanity. "What I loved about the script
is that there are so many different facets to it," says Goldwyn. "The characters all have relationship
issues, but we see them from both sides of the equation. That's always something that's really important
to me in storytelling - that there are no good guys or bad guys. Rather, there's a very balanced
perspective, so both people in a relationship are right and both are flawed. The film doesn't focus on just
the male perspective or just the female perspective, but on the human perspective."
"Although ‘The Last Kiss' is a film about relationships, it's also about friendship," Goldwyn continues. "All
of these guys are each other's lifeline - they've known each other since nursery school. At this
transitional point in their lives, as they're turning 30, and moving off into having other people be the
primary person in each of their lives, they very much rely on each other as an anchor, as a refuge."
--©Dreamworks
including Best Film, and winner of five, the film had a profound effect on Lakeshore Entertainment's Tom
Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. "Two people told me about the Italian film in the same week - in fact, one
was Jacinda Barrett, who would have a role in ‘The Last Kiss," recalls Rosenberg. "I thought of it as a
coming of age film. When I was a kid, people faced adulthood at 20 or 21, but these kids in the movie are
29 going on 30, which I think is the new coming of age; it seems there's a bit of a prolonged adolescence
today. ‘L'Ultimo Bacio' dealt with a lot of issues young people face, but no one ever talks about, or they
talk about in an idealized, silly way."
"I loved ‘L'Ultimo Bacio,'" says Lucchesi, "and unlike many foreign films it seemed to lend itself naturally
to an American remake. I found the subject matter really fascinating and the content seemed to have an
American style to it."
Once Lakeshore had acquired the rights to the Italian film, the next step was to develop the screenplay.
"Paul Haggis was really the key," adds Lucchesi. "We'd worked with Paul before on the Lakeshore film
‘Autumn in New York' and we thought he'd be perfect for this material. We were right. He adapted the
screenplay for us and really nailed it. Subsequently, through our relationship with Paul, we heard that he'd
written this movie ‘Million Dollar Baby' that couldn't get financed. So we got involved with that picture and,
of course, it was a big Academy Award®-winner, including a Best Picture Oscar®."
"For ‘The Last Kiss,' I was most interested in what our lead character, Michael, was going through,"
explains Lucchesi. "That was something that I could relate to from a first hand point of view. Also, as a
father of two daughters, I imagined what kind of scene would occur if a father had to encounter a future
son-in-law who had cheated on his daughter. I thought that would be a very interesting and sort of
remarkable encounter.
"I also loved the message," continues Lucchesi. "Temptation is all around us; it's how we deal with it and
what lessons we've learned in the past that's important. Quite often, we have to learn those lessons on
our own. We can get advice from other people, but the advice they offer they've learned from the
experiences that they have had."
To direct the film, the producers turned to Tony Goldwyn, who had previously shown a light touch and
sensitivity with similar themes in his 1999 movie, "A Walk on the Moon." "Tony really responded to the
screenplay," recalls Rosenberg. "Gary and I thought he was the perfect choice for the material; when you
meet him, he's an intelligent, well-constructed, mature individual, and still an active actor, which is
invaluable for an actor's piece like ‘The Last Kiss.' Each director comes with certain strengths - knowing
how to direct films in a way that actors can appreciate is definitely a major strength for Tony."
"I loved ‘A Walk on the Moon,' Tony's first feature as a director," enthuses Lucchesi. "I thought it was a
magnificent movie, with terrific performances - it dealt with infidelity in a very kindly and elegant way. I
think you could say the same thing about the Diane Lane character that you could about Michael, the Zach
Braff character, in our film - her affair taught her something about herself and how to embrace her future
with her husband. Tony had the tools that made him perfect for dealing with our story and characters."
"When I directed ‘A Walk on the Moon,' I had never directed before, and in fact, I never had any ambitions
to direct," says Goldwyn. "I thought I wanted to produce and I found that film, but couldn't get a director
that I thought was right. I ended up directing it just to get it made and then discovered, wow, this is the
greatest job I ever had. Coming into the job an actor, I thought to myself, ‘What kind of atmosphere would
I, as an actor, want on the set in order to do my best work? I tried to emulate that and that's how I direct."
Coming onto ‘The Last Kiss,' Goldwyn was impressed by the ways that Paul Haggis's screenplay
adaptation presented its flawed characters with compassion and humanity. "What I loved about the script
is that there are so many different facets to it," says Goldwyn. "The characters all have relationship
issues, but we see them from both sides of the equation. That's always something that's really important
to me in storytelling - that there are no good guys or bad guys. Rather, there's a very balanced
perspective, so both people in a relationship are right and both are flawed. The film doesn't focus on just
the male perspective or just the female perspective, but on the human perspective."
"Although ‘The Last Kiss' is a film about relationships, it's also about friendship," Goldwyn continues. "All
of these guys are each other's lifeline - they've known each other since nursery school. At this
transitional point in their lives, as they're turning 30, and moving off into having other people be the
primary person in each of their lives, they very much rely on each other as an anchor, as a refuge."
--©Dreamworks