LAST SEEN ALIVE
US, 2022, 95 minutes, Colour.
Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby.
Directed by Brian Goodman.
Few doubts about the title! Direct and straightforward. And, this action show, is very direct but has had few twists in the solution to the plot, an abduction plot, reminiscent of the Dutch film and its American remake of the past, The Vanishing.
And it is a film for Gerard Butler fans. Scots actor Gerard Butler (who should have been Jack reacher in the films of Lee child’s novels!) Has made a name for himself in the US with a series of action films for almost 20 years. This is one of the lesser ones, a kind of interlude before he takes on the next… Has Fallen.
There is a tantalising opening, a police officer threatening a rather scraggy redneck who tells the police that someone might be dead. And then the screenplay goes into flashback’s, highlighting the time and the passing hours.
We find an ordinary enough situation, a husband and wife with difficulties (Will and Lisa, played by Gerard Butler and Jaimie Alexander), some prickling is, she having had an affair, he devoted to her, she wanting some time and space for herself and he to drop her off at her parents home.
They stop at a service station to fill up. She goes into the store to buy something, is glimpsed and then disappears. The server behind the counter (and should keep the change is a tip) denies any knowledge of her. Will searches, it more more frantic, drives around looking for her, calls the police who eventually come, though, in the meantime, he has gone to her parents home upsetting them.
When the officer comes (Russell Hornsby), he takes notes, and, although we know different, is at first suspicious of Will himself, learning of the wife’s affair and its effect on will, learning that Will is wealthy and is a real estate developer.
Then comes some leads and suspicions, the man at the counter in store, the handyman who works for the parents. Which leads to quite a twist, especially as Will becomes more and more frustrated and anxious, not following police recommendations, looking as if he had been watching Gerard Butler action films too much… And then we find ourselves in the woods, a method for laboratory, all kinds of odd boards working there.
Some shooting, some bare knuckle fighting, some police intervention, some reconciliation.
Perhaps a bit of the abduction formula – but that is what many audiences enjoy.
- The title? Direct? Indicating action?
- Locations, the countryside, water, land, forests, the meth lab, suburbs, homes, service station, store? The musical score?
- The situation, Will and Lisa, in the car, the tensions, the revelation of her affair, his work is a real estate valuer, separation, his not wanting it, dropping Lisa at her parents? Stopping at the service station, her going inside, buying the water, the change for the attendant? Glimpsed talking, the truck, her disappearance?
- Will, disturbed, becoming more frantic, the search, the denial by the store attendant, Will driving around, phoning the police, going to visit Lisa’s parents, their attitudes? The police, the discussions, suspicions on will, interrogation?
- Will acting on his own, driving, the handyman at Lisa’s parents’ house, following him, the police, speeding charge, the handyman’s body in the boot? The police interrogating him, his role in the kidnapping, wanting to make money?
- Will, running through the forest, the encounter with the guard, going to the meth lab, the range of people, behaviour, the laboratory? Frank in charge? Finding the attendant? Confrontations, shootout, deaths? Finding Lisa and rescuing her? The arrival of the police? Will being let go?
- The effect, the future?
