Last Chance Harvey (2008)

Last Chance Harvey - 2008

Coming up next is 2008's "Last Chance Harvey", a film about a man who flies to London to attend his daughter's wedding.  Ostracized by his ex-wife and made to feel totally unwelcome, he finds a friend in the most unlikely of places, which helps him to face his present set of circumstances.

The film's excellent cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Eileen Atkins, Kathy Baker, James Brolin, Liane Balaban, Richard Schiff, Michael Landes, and Gaia Wise.

Musician Harvey Shine is on his way to London to attend his daughter's wedding.  He doesn't have the best relationship with her because of his divorce, and he's also on shaky ground with his job (writing catchy tunes for television commercials).

Kate Walker works at London's Heathrow Airport.  She gives people surveys as they come off of planes.  Needless to say, it's not a job which gets a lot of happy responses.  Kate lives with her mother and has a hard time with relationships.

Harvey and Kate bump into each other as he gets off his flight.  She asks him for a few moments of his time, and he brushes her off very rudely.

When he gets to his hotel, Harvey finds he is the only guest from the wedding party staying there.  His ex-wife has rented a house for all the other guests.

Feeling unwelcome, Harvey gets even more uncomfortable when his ex-wife fears he will make a spectacle of himself.  She also tells him that their daughter Susan has asked her stepfather to give her away.

Worse still, Harvey is relegated to the back row at his daughter's wedding.  He tells his ex-wife that he will not be attending the reception, much to her relief.

When he tries to catch a flight home, he doesn't make it in time, which causes him to lose his job.  While waiting for another flight, he meets Kate who is having a drink.  He apologizes for his earlier rude behavior and the two begin chatting.  They start to enjoy each other's company.

After a lovely time together, the two part ways.  Kate goes off in the direction of the Heathrow Express, and Harvey goes to find a hotel nearby.

Kate smiles as she walks towards her train, delighting in the unexpected good time she had.

Not knowing where to go in the city, Harvey catches up with Kate on her train.  She's pleasantly surprised to see him again.

They continue hitting it off, and, after checking his luggage into a hotel, Harvey volunteers to walk Kate to a writing class she is taking.  The two continue to connect as they walk the streets of London.

After the class, Kate asks Harvey what happened between him and his daughter.  She advises him attend his daughter's wedding reception so he doesn't come to regret it.  He agrees on the condition that she comes with him.

He also agrees to buy her a dress for the reception.  After a bunch of misses, Kate settles on the perfect one.

Harvey's daughter is delighted her dad could attend the reception, and she's thrilled to meet Kate.  Unfortunately, the only place available for them to sit is at the children's table.

During the evening, Harvey makes a speech which heals the rift between him and his daughter.  The speech also brings tears to Kate's eyes.  When Harvey joins his daughter on the dance floor, Kate slips away unnoticed.

Harvey finds her and after playing a little something for her on the piano, he tells her "I'm gonna dance your socks off!"

After the reception, Harvey and Kate spend the rest of the night walking the streets of London.  When dawn breaks, they agree to meet again at noon that day.

Sadly, Harvey has a heart condition that flares up and he is unable to keep the date, which bothers him more than the heart condition.

Kate, who was waiting for Harvey at the specific time, has a very hard time emotionally when he doesn't show up.  She seems to close herself off to relationships even more.  When Harvey calls her at work to try and explain, she declines his phone calls.

And so he goes to her writing class and waits until she is finished with it.  He tells her that he wants to stay and explore a relationship with her.  She expresses misgivings about getting emotionally involved.  "So, how's this going to work, Mr. Shine?" she asks.  He smiles at her and says, "I have absolutely no idea.  But it will.  I promise you that."

They link arms and begin walking together.  After a few steps, Kate takes off her shoes.  Harvey smiles and says, "I think you're my kinda girl."  As they walk down the sidewalk, Harvey asks Kate to give him the questionnaire that she wanted to ask when they first encountered each other at the airport.

Cast rundown:

   Dustin Hoffman.....................................Harvey Shine

   Emma Thompson...................................Kate Walker

   Eileen Atkins.........................................Maggie Walker

   Kathy Baker..........................................Jean

   James Brolin.........................................Brian

   Liane Balaban........................................Susan Shine

   Richard Schiff........................................Marvin

   Michael Landes......................................Peter Turner

   Gaia Wise.............................................Girl #1 At Wedding 

And that's it for Last Chance Harvey.  This project came to fruition after Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson worked together on the film "Stranger Than Fiction".  They enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted another project to work on together.

A particularly amusing character in this film is Kate's mother Maggie.  She is very suspicious of a Polish neighbor who is constantly acting "strangely" around a smokehouse.  She thinks he's a mass murderer.  Kate's explanation is much more simple, "Maybe Polish people like to barbecue a lot."  (As the son of a guy that is 100% Polish, I can tell you that in my experience that is a very accurate statement.)  It turns out that Kate was right.  The neighbor gifts Maggie with a smoked ham, much to her surprise.

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