Last Night

Unabashedly European in its execution, Last Night follows a well-to-do couple (Sam Worthington’s Michael and Keira Knightley’s Joanna) as their fidelity is tested over the course of one very long night – as Michael finds himself spending time with an attractive co-worker (Eva Mendes’ Laura) during a business trip, while Joanna encounters a former flame (Guillaume Canet’s Alex) on the streets of New York. Filmmaker Massy Tadjedin does a nice job of initially establishing the two central characters and the decidedly prickly nature of their relationship, with Joanna’s suspicions that Michael has already cheated with Laura triggering an argument-heavy first act that paints a fairly vivid portrait of the pair’s dysfunctional coupling. And although Tadjedin manages to sustain the film’s tone of chatty authenticity virtually from start to finish, there’s really never a point at which one is able to work up any enthusiasm or interest in the central characters’ ongoing exploits. This proves to be especially problematic as the movie progresses and the viewer is presumably meant to derive suspense from the will-they-or-won’t-they-cheat scenario, yet, despite the best efforts of a strong cast, it becomes awfully difficult to actually care one way or another – with Worthington’s rather wooden turn as Michael only exacerbating the film’s hand’s-off vibe (ie the actor’s utter lack of screen presence ensures that scenes involving his character fare especially poorly). (Contrast Worthington’s one-dimensional work with Canet’s admittedly electrifying turn as Joanna’s almost comically smooth ex.) It’s finally impossible to label Last Night as anything more than a perfectly watchable yet all-too-slight endeavor that’s fine for what it is, though one can’t help but wish that Tadjedin had strived for something a little more compelling.

** out of ****