Too real for most
Added 11/5/2009
In his review of "Last Days," Roger Ebert said it is "a definitive record of death by gradual drug exhaustion. After the chills and thrills of 'Sid & Nancy' and 'The Doors,' here is a movie that sees how addicts usually die, not with a bang but a whimper."
Ebert is right, and it's why this film works so well in my opinion. My girfriend was bored to the point of anger while watching this. I was transfixed.
I fully understand why some will be bored. Nothing much happens here. The camera crawls around a lot, seemingly uninterested in its subjects, meandering here and pausing there for no apparent reason. The "star" Blake barely utters a sentence. Supporting characters come and go without consequence or explanation. They talk at Blake sometimes, but we come to realize no one can talk "to" him.
Blake is utterly lost and alone, and if the film's point is to make us share in that experience, it is successful. Kim Gordon's character is the only one to make a real attempt at "saving" Blake from himself, but by that point we already know that he is beyond redemption.
Several movies have been made about addiction, some good, some bad. Last Days may be impossible to describe in such terms. It is, however, highly effective. It's only fault may be that it's far "too real" for the average Hollywood-fed consumer to digest.
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93 Minutes Of My Life That I Want Back
Added 9/28/2009
This is the story of the last days of Kurt Cobain's life. Though he can't really be called Kurt Cobain, because Courtney might sue. So we have him depicted as Blake- a successful rock star who just wants to be left alone. He urinates in a stream, he eats noodles and he runs away whenever he sees someone at his door. His house is populated with hangers-on and drug-fiends, and just in case you didn't get that- the song Heroin by The Velvet Underground plays. Blake is depressed and cannot be bothered with life- but he has more costume changes than a Mariah Carey concert here. Remember Kurt in the red and black striped sweater? He wears it in the film. Remember him in the black dress? He wears it in the film. The hunting cap? Yep! He wears it here.
This film is so incredibly tedious that it almost becomes offensive. It is as if the director has tried to mirror Kurt's obvious depression and boredom in the film-making. We even get a 30 second shot of a tree at one point- for no apparent reason. Let me get this out of the way- I am a huge Nirvana fan. I am a huge fan of movies. I prefer slow, thoughtful films over Hollywood blockbusters. All I ask from a director is that he move me in some way. Any way! Make me laugh a little. Make me cry. Make me gasp in awe just once at how beautifully framed a shot is. If the rest is substandard I can forgive them, as long as there is something to justify me having sat through their movie. Just do something within 93 minutes that I can take away with me. The main problem is this: There isn't a story here. Kurt Cobain's last few days: He ate, he shot up, he fell over and he shot himself. That is it. Don't offend me by trying to pass this off as something arty and thoughtful. It's easy to say that if someone doesn't like this film then they just didn't get it. It's their fault. They were expecting somthing more conventional like 'Ray' or 'Walk The Line'. No. Chances are that if you're gonna see this film then you're going to expect something different than your average biopic.
I had heard going into that it was tedious, boring and pointless, but I was willing to give it a chance anyway. What you get is an hour and a half of pretensious waffle. There has been some criticisms aimed at this film that there is not enough dialogue. Wrong. There is too much. The man from the Yellow Pages? The hangers-on? Blake reading aloud his suicide note- just in case we didn't get the idea that that's what he was writing? It's all surplus. I could have congratulated a film where the camera lingered solely on the Blake character and showed us no-one else. I could have even accepted his Beavis and Butthead mumblings to himself. What I cannot accept is a film filled with bad dialogue, bad acting and such obvious references to the real life Kurt whilst staunchly denying that it is based on him. My wife turned to me ten minutes into the film. She said "This is really tedious". I told her to give it a chance. Not much long afterwards I was willing Blake to hurry up and blow his brains out.
Truly one of the worst films I have ever had the misfortune to have paid to watch. There is an interesting story about the life of Kurt Cobain that would make a half decent film if made by even the most cack-handed of directors. This isn't it. Why didn't Oliver Stone just make The Doors about the last days of Jim Morrison's life? Because it would have been boring. Instead he showed us the more interesting moments that peppered his short stay on this Earth. Personally, I think it would be a mistake to make a biopic about Kurt Cobain, but if it happens I can guarantee that it will make an infinitely more interesting film than this one.
*Follow-up: Some months later:
I am pleased to say that I managed to offload my copy of this and receive a whopping £2 for it. If you are still in any doubt about how bad this film is I urge you to check out the hilarious music video included on the dvd. Michael Pitt and his awful band parody Nirvana and spit pizza at the camera, whilst they mockingly "play happy" for the camera. Truly abysmal stuff. And after sitting through 5 minutes of the Michael Pitt interview I am now convinced that he was in fact playing himself in the movie- what an absolutely boring, aloof and idiotic man.
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I think if you have a working mind, this will shut it off.
Added 8/11/2009
boring. just plain boring. I highly doubt that Kurt was this boring in real life. There's no dialogue for like the first 30min of the movies. Michael Pitt seemed like he was trying wayyy too hard to capture the "spirit" of Kurt. The pace of the movie is just way too slow to keep an active mind's attention. I fell asleep on it for the fourth time now. The movie feels like its trying too hard to convey the sadness and depression, Kurt may have felt in real life. I really think Kurt would laugh at this movie. There is significant proof that he did not commit suicide, for example, when his body was found, the shotgun was on his chest with the ejection port to the right of his body, the spent shell casing was on the left of his body, how is that possible? Also the pen that he wrote the supposed suicide note with has none of his fingerprints on it. Kurt was leaving Nirvana, if you dig deep enough, (im still finding new, info, music, the story really is very very deep and complex) you will find that out. In "Been A Son" (which is a much better movie, with Kurt acutally in it) he said he quit Nirvana at least 4 times in the months leading to his death. Michael Stipe said that most of Kurts music would have been quieter with lots of stringed instruments had he lived. From studying his music he seems very suicidal, especially "In Utero" but I think he was trying to scare his fanbase off. I used to think he commited suicide but after a lot of different info it seem he was either a victim of his wife, or the music industry (no further police investigations sounds like somebody paid somebody)or possibly both. They should have college courses on Kurt Cobain instead of Tupac Shakur at least Kurt was threatening violence on people. Anyway this is one of the worst movies i've ever seen, and just buy "Been A Son" if you're interested in the Cobain era. It's Kurt in his own words.
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The Most Boring Michael Pitt Film!!!
Added 5/21/2009
This movie is the worst most boring movie of Michael Pitt's that I have seen. The story is totally dull and boring and hardly any serious and sensible dialogue. Only strange shots of Pitt alone talking to himself and interacting for only a about a minute with one of two of the characters. There was hardly any suspense or spice to this movie. Just downright boring. Do not waste your money or time on this flick. Ain't worth it. Pitt has done much better roles, his best work, FUNNY GAMES.
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This movie seems like an exploitation on an idea of what Kurt Cobain's last days may have been like. In the end, it is boring, long, slow, and completely ridiculous.
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