The Last Day of August (2012) Reviews

• Excellent debut feature film

  ShutUpLars2012-10-11

  Caught this film at the Gotham Film Festival. It tells the story the impact of a life altering car accident on four friends; an accident which has left the protagonist, Dan, a paraplegic. Seeming to have cut ties, Dan has fled NYC and escaped to his family's house upstate where he has eased into a new and less challenging day to day existence. When his friends arrive unexpectedly with plans to convince him to move home, they are all forced to deal with the fallout that the crash has had on ALL of their lives. While some of the new company Dan keeps may not be the best influences, others may turn out to be healthier and more important than he realized before, and more than his old friends would like to believe. I found this film to be a fresh look at a familiar subject (that being the after-effects of a traumatic event). The pace, the dialogue and acting are all very natural, and flow very well. There are moments of unexpected humor; this is not a "dark" film, considering the subject matter, and what I really like is that no one character is absolutely right or wrong. There are several subtle plot twists that keep you from judging certain characters and relationships. This is a debut feature film from the director and the writers, and very well done.