Search - The Last Sign on DVD

Liz F. (monkeygirl) from INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Reviewed on 9/3/2009...

As much as I liked how the whole movie played out, it didn't present enough of Tim Roth's screen time. I fancy Tim Roth a lot.
Don't get me wrong, it is a great haunted house drama/thriller and it was neat how Jeremy(Roth) was only hanging around Kathy(MacDowell) for an important purpose (hence all of the certain signs), but it I'm thinkin' maybe it could have been a bit better with longer flashbacks of Tim Roth and Andie MacDowell's characters. The atmosphere and background of the film gives off a rather depressing image, there are some excellent vistas captured(at the beginning) and a few other pretty features the may go unnoticed to most people and there is a scene containing some sexuality (hence the PG-13 rating). The score was nice and suited the situations as they tend to unfold but in all it was a nice little film.

I am sure many people have different opinions about this film but I am happy to share some knowledge of the film in case anyone is willing to see it and I don't think I gave off any spoilers either..

So happy viewing!

ANDIE PANDERS

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 09/04/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Don't be fooled by the trailer for this one. What appears to be a "thriller" is merely a romantic fantasy/drama, and one that moves rather ponderously at that. Lovely Andie McDowell plays a young widow with three precocious children. She lost hubby Tim Roth (in a vastly underused performance) the night she decided to leave him. Roth, an idealistic surgeon, had turned to a life of alcohol and abuse, and was killed in a car crash in pursuit of his vacating family. McDowell is now working at a lab, with buddy Margot Kidder trying to get her to cope with her loss. Enter a handsome doctor (well played by Samuel LeBihan) who falls for McDowell and becomes a surrogate daddy for the younguns. Problem is McDowell is starting to "see" her dead husband and is even getting mysterious phone calls every night at 12:15 a.m., the exact time of Roth's death. Ultimately, THE LAST SIGN becomes a tale of redemption, forgiveness and moving on. McDowell seems lost in the role and Kidder's performance is eerily kooky. The movie doesn't have any real suspense and becomes more or less a Harlequin romance with the predictable happy ending."

Dub Be Good To Me

Ms. N. Miller | UK | 10/30/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a little flabbergasted by some of the reviews on this site. Everyone else on planet earth seems to acknowledge this film as the turkey it is. Dubbing Samuel Le Bihan (the 'french' love interest) was a criminal act, making his scenes outright laughable.



Please do not waste your money on this, watch it on TV if you must as im sure it will be on very soon!!!!"

Another Look and Listen to the Spirits of the Deceased

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hollywood seems increasingly interested in stories that deal with speaking with the dead, from the paranormal scientific approach to the solace for grief stance to the old-fashioned ghost tales. THE LAST SIGN sort of combines all of these approaches but does it with surprising subtlety and restraint and simply uses such ideas to speak to greater ideals such as forgiveness.



Director Douglas Law uses a strong cast to relate the story of a widow Kathy (Andie MacDowell) whose alcoholic, abusive physician husband Jeremy (Tim Roth) recently died in an auto accident. Still living in their large home in Canada, Kathy and her three children are coping fairly well until Kathy begins to receive phone calls at 12:15 AM from someone who remains silent. Out of financial need and out of fear she rents the cottage on the grounds to a handsome young man Marc (Samuel Le Bihan) who has an aura of the strange about him: is it real or imagined?



At Kathy's work her boss Isabel (Margot Kidder) keeps her grounded and when Kathy relates seeing images of Jeremy and hearing suspicious sounds both of which cause flashbacks to Jeremy's abusive personality, Isabel encourages Kathy to attempt to speak to the dead and discover the secrets of messages and signs from the departed. Kathy's friend (the chronically underused fine actress Mimi Kuzyk) likewise is supportive and encourages Kathy to accept the attentive advances of Marc. Kathy's confused life calms when she is informed that the last sign that a departed can give is the one emotional trait that has troubled her most. The reveling of that sign from Jeremy and the resultant changes in Kathy and her family's life form a rather tender ending to this successful thriller movie.



The surprises come from the quality of performances: Tim Roth even without significant lines creates a wholly believable character; Margot Kidder returns to the screen after her notorious battle with bad publicity and gives an unforgettable performance of a quirky, slightly wacky but comic and caring oddball; Andie MacDowell keeps the difficult character of a widow with mixed reactions to her husband's death in believable focus at all times. The lighting and camera work are superb, for once letting our imagination about ghosts take precedence over that tired use of cartoon computer animation!



Not a great movie, but certainly heads above much of the current Hollywood glut of other films in this genre. Worth watching. Grady Harp, May 05"