The Last Sign (2005)

If it's possible to spoil such a poorly-conceptualized and constructed film, then look out for SPOILERS.First of all, the premise is good, but wait. . . is it really a premise? We read in the plot summary that Jeremy (Tim Roth) had been an "abusive alcoholic" husband. This would give Jeremy's widow, Kathy (as well as the audience) a reason to be frightened by the prospect of his from the dead. But as it turns out, there is no real reason to be afraid of him. (I mean, more than you would be afraid of any ghost of a loved one).The only evidence of what Jeremy was like given to us by the film indicates that he was altruistic, a good father, and a romantic husband. A gentle spirit, a doctor who started drinking because he can't make a dent in all the death and suffering in the world. We see ONE soundless tantrum where he is taking out his anger on the furniture in his own office. Kathy is standing by, looking not in the least threatened, but indeed, extremely sympathetic. In other flashbacks (which are little more than sound bites), he appears sober enough when she tells him that her and the kids are leaving, but by the time they drive off, yes, he has gotten drunk enough to throw a rock, which breaks the car window. The guy was losing everything that was left to him after the loss of his ideals- any normal person might get drunk on that occasion. If you're not confused yet, late in the film Kathy remarks that Jeremy was killed at exactly 12:15 am, the same day they had left him. Well, it was dark out when they left him, but in the wrecked car "scene" (which is repeated several times in the movie) it is definitely daytime. Perhaps the accident scene was not discovered for many hours, but then how would anyone know he'd died at precisely 12:15?This movie was filmed in Montreal, Quebec. Had the film located itself, we would know that the only possible significance of Kathy's sister mentioning that her new tenant, Marc, was "French," was to indicate he was a Francophone Quebequois; in other words, somebody with a very distinct accent. Did somebody fire the sound editor and forget to replace him? Or was it the actor originally cast to do the English dubbing for Samuel Le Behain who was fired (after which the sound editor himself was forced to fill in at the last minute? Whichever, the stiff, stilted voice of Marc did nothing to improve the credulityof romance sparking between himself and Kathy.Everyone (from Kathy's teen-aged son, to her sister Isabelle, to "Endora" at work) keeps pressing Kathy to move on with her life. Kathy repels Marcs's initial flirtation (having a memory of Jeremy pop up at just that moment). She has just barely gotten used to the idea that he's interacting well with her kids, when he suggests not taking his next job assignment so he can stick around and "settle down." When she doesn't jump into his arms, its his turn to tell her she needs to "let go" of Jeremy. Preposteropusly, the very next time these two are in a scene together is in the climax, when she has rushed to the airport to stop him from going to his next job. I don't think they've even kissed before. If this passes for romance, Kathy should have stuck to her sweet memories of Jeremy.Don't even get me started on the Eudora character, played by Margot Kidder. As a character, Endora was the creepiest part of this movie, the way she kept coming on to Kathy. She doesn't even know Kathy, yet she keeps butting in, telling Kathy how she feels about her late husband. Perhaps the initial concept was for Endora to symbolize the wise witch or "hag" myth. That's would have been great, but instead they've made her dialog one cliché' after another: "I'm guessing you're either a Leo or a Cancer," because she ate the TUNA MELT?!?! Everybody knows Cancer and Leo are extremely different from one another. (If it was between the two, she really must have snooped in the personnel files, because Cancer and Leo fall next to each other in the calendar.) I felt sorry for Ms. Kidder, having to say all those incredibly stupid lines while trying to play wise woman. And I really hope those ill-fitting false teeth were props, and not her everyday teeth. Director Douglas Law might have made at least a TV-quality movie, if he had abandoned the undeveloped character of Marc, dropped the vilification of Jeremy's memory, and made this movie about the way we never really lose the ones we love. But then it couldn't have been marketed as a thriller, and they wouldn't have been able to afford the lead actors' salaries.The only good things about this movie was the beautiful location and aerial photography, and the effective (if microsopic) presence of Tim Roth.

This flick was intended to be a fantasy and horror work and it became a Harlequin Romance .How can a director do such a thing with an actor like Tim Roth?Anyway Roth is a ghost and he is not given a single chance to shine.Samuel LE Bihan's character is the straight handsome gentle -and of course clever-man who loves the heroine's children and who urges her to pick up the pieces and to give them a chance.When the movie tries to be "scary", it uses all the hackneyed tricks which even the worst directing drudges would not dare :"I've just talked to your son/-But my son is dead " here's the "terrifying "dialog; The "old" colleague (Margot Kidder!) initiating McDowell to spiritualism is also ridiculous.The last scene takes the biscuit,with its "moving" last sign ,naturally filmed in slow motion.If you want to see a movie which tackles almost the same subject and brilliantly succeeds ,take FRançois Ozon's "Sous le Sable" starring Charlotte Rampling.(International title:"Under the Sand" )

I bought this movie because Tim Roth was in it, and Andy MacDowell is usually worth a watch too. Unfortunately Tim Roth has hardly any lines, and the main male character is just awful, his acting almost made me stop the movie a few times, and even Andy MacDowells' acting lets her down at times.Anyway, on to the plot. The movie starts like a regular horror/thriller, we get the arrival of a stranger in the protagonists' life and spooky music and the beginning of supernatural goings on. But then the movie kind of changes direction and comes to an ending more commonly seen in romantic comedys, it's a brave and original idea, but it falls flat and you feel nothing but relief that it's over and possibly a little cheated out of your horror movie.On a positive note, it's probably better than Police Academy 6

...and hit it's mark. By aiming low, I mean it wasn't really trying to impress anyone and the ones who made it didn't seem to care if it did well, or not. However, it wasn't hyped or anything and I didn't even know it was out on the shelf for weeks. I do think it was a waste of time to watch it. I like movies with Tim Roth in them, but he didn't really do anything in this movie. The other actors were like cardboard cutouts of themselves at times... then at others, they were WAY to over the top. Mostly in the children. Granted they were supposed to be in turmoil, but nothing would ever seem to warrant or lead up to their sudden outbursts of defiance. Case in point:|\\//\\SPOILERS//\\//| 1) The mother (McDowell) tells the kids it's time to eat. They practically ignore her and she tells them again, still calmly. Now they move but the one daughter snaps, "WE'RE COMING!"OK... kids...2) Then in a sudden and delayed and strange act of defiance, the son, holding his jacket and standing outside the door as they're getting in their car says abruptly, "I'm not going!" To which McDowell is like I'm your mother and then the kid goes... well... he DID have his jacket and he was outside and there was no prior protest about having to go.END of spoilersIt just seemed like it was thrown together and no one really tried to have any development to this story, which MIGHT have been good, if done in another way. Still, even the plot and or story wasn't all that great to begin with.4 stars is a low vote for me and this movie didn't really aim that high, I think. And didn't it seem like Margot Kidder had her mouth open a LOT. And she also had some strange, poorly timed pauses. Maybe she was trying to remember her lines. ANyway...