Last Chance Harvey

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson make mundane stuff come to life in this sweet tale of two lonely people finding each other at the right time. Hoffman plays a commercial jingle writer who is getting pushed out of his agency because his ideas are too old fashioned, while Thompson plays an airport employee with a pain in the neck mommy. The two meet by chance in London when Hoffman is attending his daughter’s’ wedding. They eventually start walking and talking, and all the bad stuff in their lives just fades away. The actors have genuine charm together, and they make their moments onscreen really count. The plot isn’t unique, and the film sometimes feels like a million other movies. Still, the duo delivers eloquent work, and you find yourself rooting for them. Hoffman hasn’t had many chances lately to really show his talents on screen. This film, however slight at times, is proof that the man is still a damned fine actor.