Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drinking, sex, swearing in unlikable coming-home drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Last Call
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In LAST CALL, Mick (Jeremy Piven) returns to Darby Heights, Pennsylvania, to attend his mother's funeral. He butts heads with his widowed father, Laurence (Jack McGee), who's a small-time crab fisherman and runs a local but beloved dive bar, and his brother, Dougal (Zach McGowan), who has a criminal record and does little more than drink and smoke pot. Everyone picks on Mick for leaving, going to college, and getting a job in real estate. But he maintains that he has ambition, while his friends do not. His company plans to build a casino in Darby Heights, so Mick gets to work securing the signatures of his neighbors, promising them that the casino will help bring the neighborhood back to life. But Mick's childhood crush, Ali (Taryn Manning), discovers the dark side of the deal. So Mick must try to set things right.
Is It Any Good?
This drama tries to capture the feel of community in a certain urban neighborhood, but it's totally undone by unlikable characters, dangling plot threads, and a distractingly uneven tone. Last Call begins with a death, and the moment the funeral scene ends, no one ever really seems to mourn again; it's forgotten by the very next scene. This lapse seems to happen to many plot threads in the movie. It's as if each scene were improvised from the ground up, and whatever details that didn't fit were just left hanging. In some scenes, Mick's father is working on a hopelessly dilapidated boat, and in other scenes, they go crab fishing in a brand-new boat (despite the fact that they have no money and the bar is struggling).
A light, bittersweet score tries to tie things together, but it, too, usually feels wrong for whatever the scenes are trying to convey. Then Mick claims to be "in his 40s," although he looks (and actually is) mid-50s, and the other characters appear to be the same age. Yet they act like immature jerks, drinking all the time (with no consequences), playing dumb practical jokes, and making bets about who can have the most sex. They constantly yell at and pick on one another and get into fights, and it's not very easy to like any of them. The rushed, last-minute, save-the-day finale is so hard to believe that it feels like Last Call leaves off with an insult.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Last Call depicts drinking. Does the movie make drinking look fun? Does anyone ever appear to be drunk or hung over? Are any other consequences shown? Why does that matter?
How is sex viewed in the film and by the characters? What values are imparted by the idea of a sex contest?
Did you find any of the movie's jokes or humor offensive? Is saying something racist less problematic if it's said for a laugh? Why, or why not?
The movie argues between leaving your hometown to find work and make good and staying true to your roots and not leaving. What are the pros and cons of each path?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 19, 2021
- On DVD or streaming : March 19, 2021
- Cast : Jeremy Piven , Taryn Manning , Zach McGowan
- Director : Paolo Pilladi
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : IFC Films
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 102 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : crude sexual content, pervasive language and some drug use
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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