Yesterday, Dr. Cyborg posted a review of The Last Kiss on Blu-Ray. The review was less than favorable, and while the good doctor is of course entitled to his own opinions, I really enjoyed this movie and feel it deserves a “counter-review”.

First off, to blatantly counter Dr. Cyborg, I didn’t find this movie the least bit cheesy, nor to be chock full of phony insights about relationships. Braff does a great job at playing the near-thirty-year-old who is starting to panic a little about the “permanence” of his relationship with his newly pregnant girlfriend (Barrett). This leads to him stepping out on her with a younger college girl (Bilson), something that he eventually gets caught in and confesses to. Cue drama.

I think some people expect this to be a romantic comedy going into it, and while it has several good laughs, especially at the beginning, it is certainly more dramatic than what most expect. There is a great supporting cast of Braff’s friends who are all going through their own trials and tribulations: Izzy is having a hard time moving on from his high school sweetheart, Chris and his wife are struggling with a failing marriage that involves a new born son, and Kenny is well, a man whore, who for a brief time thinks he has finally found someone to settle down on for at least a little while. I think this is where my main complaint of the film comes in, these are all strong characters who in their short time on screen lends a lot to the film as a whole (the supporting cast is where a lot of the comedic relief comes in), but I feel they could have been developed a little more than they were. However, all the interactions work and keep everything moving.

The movie tackles a lot of mature relationship issues and handles them well, with the main theme being infedelity. Braff actually makes you feel like he’s a guy who made an honest mistake for something that I would guess 99% of the population consider unforgiveable, but yet, you don’t fully forgive him for what he’s done. Meanwhile, Barrett is great as the love-scorned girlfriend who has been hurt beyond belief, trying her hardest to recover and forgive the father of her child and the man she plans to spend the rest of her life with. Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner are great (as always) as the wiser older couple (going through issues of their own throughout the course of the film) both lending some wisdom to Braff and Barrett’s characters. One of the best scenes in the movie is between Wilkinson and Braff when Michael has to come face to face with the father of the woman he cheated on.

While the movie wraps up a lot of the plot nicely, it also leaves some aspects open-ended; not necessarily in a frustrating way, but you get the sense that this is the end of this story for all of these couples and they will go on living their lives, not necessarily happily-ever-after, but stronger and wiser people.

Some might say this movie is full of cliche’s and it brings nothing new to the romantic genre, and I don’t totally disagree. However, I didn’t get the sense that this movie was trying to be anything more than a solid movie, telling a story. It wasn’t pretentious, wasn’t trying to give any deeper insight than what common sense might tell us if we were in these situations if we really listened; the movie simply takes you along on the rough seas of these individuals current situations and allows you take from it what you will, and does a good job at it.

This isn’t Garden State, but in my opinion it’s another solid outting for Zach Braff and is definately worth checking out. As mentioned in the previous review, The Last Kiss is now out on Blu-Ray. You can order it here from Amazon.