The Last Thing He Wanted: An Under The Lens Review

Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse. Spoilers will be included in this review.

The Last Thing He Wanted is a drama thriller from Director Dee Rees, and stars Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Toby Jones, and Willem Defoe. It follows the story of a veteran D.C. journalist who loses the thread of her own narrative when a guilt-propelled errand for her father thrusts her from byline to unwitting subject in the very story she’s trying to break.

Under The Lens: Script and Editing

Script: I am all in favor of complex scripts, however, The Last Thing He Wanted, gets swallowed in its own scripting and dialogue. The opening 10 minutes, contains a bloated and flowery monologue by Anne Hathaway’s character, that left me literally shaking my head, as I had no idea what she was talking about. Sadly this was just the start of the pictures issues, as the script meanders from character to character and scene to scene with little connecting them. Characters drop in and out of the story and are never mentioned again, we see the build-up of an assassin and see him chase Hathaway, only for him to vanish and never be seen again. There is nothing wrong with a picture demanding attention to detail, but the plot was genuinely almost impossible to follow. As the pictures, overall narrative is not even established for the first 30 minutes.

Editing: The pictures poor script is only rivaled by its even poorer editing, a picture with a middling script, can still survive if its acting and editing are on point. Sadly this was not the case, editing is a very important part of a picture narrative structure. The plot is inferred and character motivations revealed by how the scene is edited. This picture had more than one vital plot point that is lost in a badly edited moment, which then is lost as we are rushed to the next moment. There is a moment when a french agent saves Hathaway from death, only for her to have a flashback of him saying something to her which causes her to run away from him. Even now I have no idea why the flashback caused her to run away and think he was evil when he had just saved her life.

Highlights

Willem Defore turned in a solid performance, as Hathaway’s ailing father.

The setting and 80s’ flair was fun and lent itself well to a period drama

The picture had some beautiful scenery of the Caribbean, that made me momentarily forget about the bad plot.

Quotable Quotes

Elena McMahon: In a perfect world we make perfect choices. In the real world, we make real choices.

Something to think about

What would you do if you discovered a secret about your family that made you question who they really were?

Conclusion

Overall The Last Thing He Wanted squanders its stellar cast and buries them in a dull and lifeless story, with a poor script and nonsensical editing. The cast all turn in good performances and that alone is the pictures saving grace, the sad thing is, this picture had the makings of a great tale of intrigue and betrayal, and with a better script we may have been seeing a strong entry into the pantheon of 2020 releases. Unfortunately, this will go down as a forgettable drama, that had the potential to be something special if helmed correctly.