As Good As It Gets

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The acting in this movie is really good.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Why watch "Last Embrace" if everything in it is so obviously copied from Hitchcock? Why not watch a good Hitchcock classic instead? Well, for those who just long to see a more modern movie, "Last Embrace" might be a good compromis. Some folks just cant stand to watch the old movies anymore, because they look old and dont connect to the modern world anymore. The story and the acting in itself is rather good and full of great suspense. The movie is about a man who fears for his life. Somebody is out trying to kill him, but he doesnt know wny. He tries to decipher a mysterious letter that is sent to him, written in an unknown language, in the hope to find out who is trying to kill him.Sometimes the acting by the supporting actors is somewhat overdramatic, deliberatedly done to again copy the original Hitchcock style in which characters often performed with large gestures. Nowadays that is unheard of and it would look a bit silly, but it was one of those Hitchcock characteristics that was (badly) copied into "Last Embrace" as well.As a soundtrack fan I must admit that I disliked the use of a fake old soundtrack score (in MONO). The score in itself was beautiful, but it didnt blend well with this modern version of a hitchcock story. I dont mind remakes of good movies, but at least make them in a modern way. Now the deliberatedly old sounding, music score constantly clashes with the modern settings. But most people probably wont mind this at all, this is just a personal irritant of mine, because I like music so much in movies... To conclude: if you never have seen a Hitchcock movie and even if you dont know Roy Scheider either, "Last Embrace" is still a good suspense thriller. It has stood the test of time nicely. It could have been better, but I have watched it several times over the years and I still get thrilled by it.

"Last Embrace" deserves its bad reviews. Imitation of Alfred Hitchcock requires more than respect and deep appreciation. The Miklos Rozsa score does sometimes intrude even though he often wrote film noir scores and a famous score for Mr. Hitchcock that the director did not like. Sometimes the score works extraordinarily well. Well, this is not a Hitchcock film but still, I like this movie. It imitates but also foreshadows director Demme's later great terror oriented mysteries.Mr. Demme is not mechanical or rigid in his use of Hitchcock devices and themes. This film narrative engages one on its own terms.The casting is particularly effective. The late Janet Margolin enriches the film and counts in part for my high score.Roy Scheider, as always, has immense presence Locations in New York encase a time when the city looked particularly rundown and that somehow defines an effective iconography though I have no idea why. This movie deserves closer analysis than this but others probably could do that more effectively than I can at the moment. I very much appreciate the review here by Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci.

Jonathan Demme is such a character-oriented director that, to see him pulling a Brian De Palma (which is to say, aping Hitchcock), it's predictably distressing when he fails to work up much suspense within this mystery. Working from David Shaber's mediocre adaptation of Murray Teigh Bloom's novel "The 13th Man", Demme attempts to strike a chord somewhere between Alan J. Pakula's paranoia dramas and Hitchcock's dangling-participle thrillers. Roy Scheider stars as a retired secret agent mourning the murder of his wife, now busy dodging the bad guys who are out to kill him. Takes off right away, but the script is full of flimsy threads and any early excitement quickly dies out. There's a visually impressive climax at Niagra Falls, but Demme gets next-to-nothing out of his cast, and even less out of this tepid story. ** from ****

Having watched an interesting documentary recently, "Dial H for Hitchcock", it's clear to see how Jonathan Demme was influenced by the master himself. His admiration for the master is evident, yet, in spite of everything, Mr. Demme's "Last Embrace" was a surprise nonetheless. "Last Embrace" was one of his first films and it sort of showed the trajectory of Jonathan Demme as a film director would follow. If you haven't seen the film, please stop reading here.When Harry Hannan's wife is tragically killed, his life begins to unravel. Harry spends some time in a sanatorium trying to get himself together. Unfortunately, whoever wanted him put away is still much in evidence as his presence is felt right at the station where Harry is trying to board the train back home to Manhattan.Harry is taken aback to find Ellie living in his apartment, something he had no idea was happening. It's only fitting with films of this genre that Harry will fall for the beautiful young woman who apparently seems to be trying to help him solve the puzzle about a cryptic death threat he has received at home.Harry with the help of Sam Urdell, starts investigating about the meaning of the strange message he got. Urdell's connection within the Jewish community also unravels another conspiracy that Harry knew nothing about. The final episode involves going through the tunnels where visitors must enter in order to see real close the Falls at Niagara. Even before that there's also a great scene involving Harry's former brother-in-law in a tower at Princeton, which kept reminding us of "Vertigo".Roy Scheider makes an intense Harry. In fact, Mr. Scheider at the time this film was made, was at the height of his career and he clearly shows why he was an excellent actor. The beautiful Janet Margolin plays Ellie, a woman who is too good to be true when we first meet her, but we have no clue as to what she is capable of doing. The great Sam Levene is seen as Sam Urdell, who befriends Harry and is instrumental in getting to the bottom of this mystery. In supporting roles some familiar faces who went to do much better work later. Christopher Walken, Mandy Patinkin, Jacqueline Brookes, Marcia Rodd, Charles Napier, among others are seen in the film.Jonathan Demme proved he was a talent that would go to bigger and better things even then.