On The Last Lullaby, Jeffrey Goodman in a manifesto-like statement expressed his desires to stray away from modern cinematic norms and trends. He called for a seemingly nostalgic return to when film actually mirrored its society in a relevant fashion. Its an honest sentiment and one that I find both intriguing and troubling. On the one hand, looking back through the eyes of history one can easily associate periods of time with cultural artifacts such as film in this context. But the trouble I see is whether or not this is indeed simply “nostalgia” at work or possibly the presence of a larger historical scope to look back on.
Its hard to say whether or not cinema for better or worse, does or does not mirror our own contemporary society today. Surely film has indeed become somehow more rapid, sporadic, and pointlessly styled with little forethought. But it is hard to state whether this is not somehow indicative of our modern perceptions in a more holistic context. Life and temporal perception have indeed become more rushed, mechanized, and rather chaotic thus possibly for better or worse, film has still retained a certain accuracy in social reflection.
Regardless, Goodman does indeed make a great effort to stray away from huge Box office hitters like 300 or Crank which literally bombarded the viewer with an almost orgy-astic attack of excess. The Last Lullaby is anything but, and is indeed a refreshing diversion away from the over stimulation of these recent films. Goodman’s debut is if anything, a refreshing break from the quite literally tiresome fare at the box office of recent years characterized largely by senseless visual style.
I have to admit that when I was initially approached by Goodman to review his film, I was somewhat hesitant. Maybe hesitant isn’t the right word, but more accurately I simply didn’t know what to expect. I had never heard of his film nor did I have any idea what I was getting into. The only thing that was available was the rather experienced lineup of actors which was an immediate plus. With the return of Tom Sizemore, possibly one of the greatest modern-day character actors, Sasha Alexander, Bill Smitrovich and Ray McKinnon, the film already looked strong on talent alone.
Either way, I reserved judgment until the screener actually arrived in my mailbox then to my dvd player. The film immediately was a pleasant surprise. There are obvious areas where I found the film to be unpolished (which I will touch upon later), but overall it was an intriguing experience.
While I will make an effort to remain spoiler free, it is ultimately a futile struggle to do so. Not only is it simply difficult to discuss a film in-depth by refraining from narrative specifics, in the end it may not even matter. And I do not say this as insult, but quite the opposite. Possibly the most interesting facet of The Last Lullaby is its lack or “lack of emphasis” on its narrative.
The film wastes no time on lengthy exposition, establishing shots, or needless dialogue. Events happen rather by chance seemingly bearing no narrative significance at all. Its not to say that the events on screen serve no purpose, rather the emphasis upon narrative convention is denied. There is no excess shock value, dominating dramatic structure, or second climaxes. The ending could be seen as a case of Deus ex machina, but its done so passively that one can’t help but feel it couldn’t have been done any other way.
The basic premise of the film isn’t made clear until well into the narrative. This seems intentional, as it establishes a sense of outsider-ship or that of a voyeur. The camera is constantly being framed against foreground objects zooming in and out as if we are looking into the characters on screen intrusively. The constant zooming is an intriguing motif in itself as its almost done as exaggeration. As a viewer, its hard to simply ignore it and seemingly points to a self-awareness of its own medium.
Sizemore as the mysterious hitman is quickly characterized through his initial rescue of a kidnapped girl who is then revealed to be as morally ambiguous as the men he just thoughtlessly killed. Simply someone taking advantage of an already tense situation, Sizemore as Price puts up a second ransom on the nameless girl to be paid by her rich father. In the end, the girl is returned out of harm’s way and the deal seems to go down smoothly minus Price stealing their car in the process.
Opposite Sizemore is Sasha Alexander as Sarah, an equally mysterious character who’s past is shrouded in mystery. For the purpose of this review, the only relevant information that needs to be revealed is that she is simply Price’s target for a hit. A hit that he knows nothing about except that its being put in by the same “father” he had a run-in with prior.
What unfolds is a strange interplay of romance and stalking. On the one hand, Sizemore serves as our surrogate into the film, peeking into the life of Sarah from a distance. Its cleverly executed through the camera work which puts Price often through our own POV gazing upon the action on screen with watchful eyes.
The eventual interaction between the two characters is one of general awkwardness and confusion. The introverted nature of both create a rather odd coupling. Their discourse is uncomfortable and both seemingly appear to harbor secrets from each other. While as viewers we feel as uncomfortable with the pairing as much as the characters on screen, one cannot deny something charming about the whole ordeal.
The parallelism between the two in addition to some great performances seems to outweigh the rather cliche romantic development. One that is awkward both for the characters’ introversion as well as for the fact that one is hired to kill the other. Theres a sense of trickery and even guilt but it seemingly goes both ways. The romantic development itself though is somewhat of a cinematic and narrative cliche. One that at first seems troubling but really only serves to emphasis the unique stylistic execution.
Venturing briefly into specific facets, I have to make note of the character of Sarah and her subsequent performance by Alexander. One scene in particular caught my interest that involved Sarah and Price going out on a date consisting of Sarah demonstrating her recreational skill at shooting cans. Its an interesting irony when put into contrast to Price, who shoots to kill and does it quite skillfully. Alexander as Sarah puts on a great performance of an individual that is seemingly dichotomized and possesses a certain sense of unpredictability. This is highly contrasted to Price who is overall a static object that is both predictable and consistent, of which Sizemore brilliantly performs.
“I Don’t Think I Like Being Saved Much”
The other interesting side to this particular scene is the probability that Goodman may be offering a critique or reinvention of film noir conventions. Doing away with the “damsel in distress” and “femme fatales”, he offers up a more balanced female element. One who can hold her own and is not merely a catalyst to a male counterpart’s actions. This is explicitly made apparent in the film’s latter half when Price seemingly appears to carry out “her” wishes instead of taking a dominant role; more servant then mere protector.
If anything, Alexander is the dominating force on screen and Sizemore’s initial introduction almost serves as a macguffin to the viewer, dissuading him/her from the truth further. Like the character of Price, we are forced to dig deeper into the narrative and the characters’ actions to arrive at what is truly occurring on this opaque plane.
Overall it was a pleasant viewing experience and the production looked quite polished yet beared no excess waste relying more on traditional camera work and performances instead of rapid cuts, over-saturation, and other modern conventions.
Its not to say the film is antiquated and/or simple nostalgic though, but very much the opposite. I saw it as more of a celebration of the medium reinvented in the scope of contemporary contexts. I would have to say that if anything, I honestly got the impression that The Last Lullaby was created by an individual who truly loved film as much as making them. This rings true especially given Goodman’s self-proclaimed “film buff” status.
Of course I can only ponder at what sort of influences he may have drawn from but I can easily imagine Goodman being a fan of the likes of John Cassavetes or Hou Hsiao-hsien. The character of Price actually was highly reminiscent of both Takeshi Kitano’s film as well as his characterizations consisting of an unstable passivity shrouded in dualism rather then typical straight-faced Hollywood fare.
In terms of the film overall, there’s little that can be said about it negatively but there are indeed parts unpolished. The initial action sequence irritated me to a small degree. Given Goodman’s statement to stray away from shock, I could only characterize this specific sequence as such. The violence and sudden action is a punch to the face, one that is done somewhat inelegantly.
The dialogue is sparse and minimal which works greatly for this type of work, but the little there was often seemed weak and uninspiring. Some of the concluding discourse especially seemed to be unnecessary and altogether pointless but this could merely be a point of personal subjectivity on the viewer’s part.
Regardless, Goodman’s debut film matched with impressive performances summed up to a great viewing. The execution is spot on and is perfectly matched by veteran actors who bring a certain sense of realism to a medium altogether too caught up with exaggeration in recent years. If The Last Lullaby is any indicator, Goodman may have the chops to becoming a prominent auteur in the near future.
The Last Lullaby Official Site
Tags: jeffrey goodman, max allan collins, noir, sasha alexander, the last lullaby, tom sizemore