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last night " could have an " aka " tagged on the end of it that says , " it 's the end of the world , and we feel fine " .
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last night " is about just that .
the last night of planet earth 's existence .
the world is going to end at precisely midnight , january 1st , 2000 .
how scientists were so accurately able to predict when this catastrophic event would occur is never explained .
nor is the event itself .
throughout the entire movie , no explanation is given as to why this is happening .
in doing this , mckellar ( who also wrote and directed the film ) seems to be trying to transcend the genre .
he 's attempted to make a film about people , and how each of them deals with their last night of life .
the film contains no science fiction elements , which allows the viewer to concentrate on the feelings and actions of the characters .
mckellar is largely successful in his attempt to rise above his material .
the film is set in toronto , and follows several people in their various escapades on the last night of existence .
there 's mckellar , who plays a man who just wants to be alone when the moment occurs , but keeps getting interrupted by a woman ( sandra oh ) in search of her husband .
her husband , played by david cronenberg , is spending the day working at the gas company , informing people that they will attempt to keep providing gas right up until the end .
finally , there 's mckellar 's friend , played by callum keith rennie , a man who has spent his final months trying out every sexual perversion you can think of .
mckellar has crafted a gang of the some of the most interesting characters i 've seen in a film in months .
these people all felt real to me , especially the character played by sandra
oh .
we can see her desperation , her utter need to be with her husband in the final hours .
rennie is good , too , as the man who wants to literally try everything before he dies .
he exudes such charm and likeablity , it 's not surprising that we 're rooting for him to get what he wants .
but for me , the biggest surprise in the movie is mckellar .
i knew that he was a talented director , but
i had no idea he could act as well .
his insistence to be alone , much to the dismay of his parents , is something that most people would find difficult to understand , but as played by mckellar , we can understand his reasons .
he does n't buy into the whole notion that just because everyone 's going to die , he should immediately find some companionship .
he realizes the relationship would be forced , and they would only be together for the sake of being together .
mckellar gives a brilliant performance , and i hope he alternates between directing and acting .
my only quibble with the film is that we never find out why the world is ending .
i really wanted to know , and my need to know was hanging over the film at all times .
i appreciate the fact that mckellar did n't want the material to rule the film , and that he wanted the movie to be more of a study in human behavious .
however , in not telling the audience
what the cause of earth 's destruction is , he 's left a big question that is in their minds throughout the film .
another problem is we never see anybody panicking .
i would imagine if the world was ending , and there was nothing to be done about it , a large segment of the population would be going out of their minds .
instead , we are treated to shots of a giant crowd partying like it 's new year 's eve .
i just did n't buy the fact that everyone had completely accepted their fate .
no one had the urge to " rage against the dying of the light " .
despite these small problems , " last night " is one of the best movies of the year . as opposed to the moronic " armageddon " , " last night " treats the subject at hand with maturity and believabilty . and bruce willis never shows up to save the day .
Output: P