Last Chance Harvey

Who cares about a boring script when you’ve got Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson as leads?

Last Chance Harvey is one of those “it’s never too late to change your life” movies.  The film’s main character, Harvey Shine (Hoffman), is a workaholic who barely has time to make it to his daughter (Liane Balaban)’s wedding in London.  The first scene between father and daughter — an awkward hug, minor small talk — indicates pain and longing, and when his daughter finally breaks the news to Harvey that her stepfather, Brian (James Brolin), will give her away at her wedding, it becomes clear to Harvey that he doesn’t belong — not just in his daughter’s world, where it feels as if he has been replaced by Brian, but, it seems, he just doesn’t belong.  His job as a commercial jingle composer is being overtaken by younger, fresher talent.  His general awkwardness is glaring — afterall, he showed up in white to a banquet of black suits.

Simultaneously, we are introduced to Kate Walker (Emma Thompson), a lonely middle-aged woman who works at the airport.  With a semi-paranoid mother (Eileen Atkins) — she believes her new neighbor is an axe murderer — who calls her every five minutes, there doesn’t seem to be much time for her own life.  On a blind date of sorts, she is set up with a noticeably younger man.  They are mostly polite to each other, but the date turns sour when the man bumps into hipper friends and invites them to join.  Kate is pushed aside and must sit there and feign interest.  Suddenly, she feels old.

The two loners finally meet in the airport bar.  Kate is drinking a glass of wine and reading a novel as Harvey walks in, crushed after his daughter’s announcement.  Both bitter and cynical after recent developments, their conversation is amusing, albeit biting.  As Harvey follows Kate to her writing workshop and offers to carry her books like a schoolboy, we can pretty much guess what happens next.

The success of Last Chance Harvey is all Hoffman and Thompson, who must be the cutest on-screen couple since Ellen Page and Michael Cera in Juno.  Emma Thompson, who is always a joy to watch, is as radiant as ever here, and while I consider her one of the best criers on screen (Love Actually, Sense and Sensibility), it is Hoffman who made the theater sniffle in his wedding toast.  Both actors turn simple moments into magic that have us grinning and laughing.  In an age where most Hollywood rom-coms are speckled with barely legal actors and sugarcoated, gag-worthy dialogue, Last Chance Harvey is refreshing.  No, Harvey is not for those that enjoy seeing things get blown up or the unfortunate short-attention-spanned, but for everyone else, it is a perfectly pleasant hour and a half.