Reviewer's Rating 3 out of 5 Ìý
The Last Kiss DVD (2006)

videoÌýÌý

Based on the Italian film L'Ultimo Bacio (2004), The Last Kiss is a "well-crafted and heartfelt" comedy drama about a young man spooked by the prospect of settling down. Zach Braff plays the twitchy 29-year-old contemplating an affair, but not everyone bought into his dilemma. After garnering mixed reviews, the film flopped. Perhaps its low-key formula is just better suited to the small screen.

The Last Word

A small batch of featurettes are mostly concerned with the unusual tone of the film. Filmmakers' Perspective hears from producer Gary Lucchesi who insists, "There is something American" about the original, although it is quite different to the romance stories we're used to seeing. In Getting Together Zach Braff defines this quality as a delicate balance of comedy with emotions that are "gritty, honest and real." In trying to preserve that essence, screenwriter Paul Haggis reveals, "I basically translated it into English." Genius...

The Last Kiss DVD

Behind Our Favourite Scenes highlights a few of the more memorable moments where comedy and drama intersect. Braff and co-star Rachel Bilson both choose the 'treehouse flirtation' as their favourite scene for all its emotional undertones (sexual tension, fear and insecurity), which are played for gentle laughs. Lucchesi contributes again in Last Thoughts to reiterate that this film is "a little more real, a little more raw" than your average, run-of-the-mill rom-com.

An extended version of the treehouse vignette is among seven deleted scenes. There are also two alternative endings, which adhere more closely to the conventions of a Hollywood romance. Both sequences show us a snapshot of life after Michael (Braff) and Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) have their standoff on the porch accompanied by reassuring voiceover from Michael. One is slightly less rosy-hued than the other, but both try to wrap things up with a bow. After all the talk about keeping the action 'honest and real' it's no wonder these scenes were cut.

Kiss And Tell

Two commentaries bolster the extras package. Braff and director Tony Goldwyn talk more about plumbing those emotional depths, because as the latter notes, "You could easily fall into the trap of clichés and one-dimensional characters and it wouldn't work." This was something he kept in mind while casting, hiring Rachel Bilson because as Braff says, she is "likeable and not ditsy". Similarly, Eric Christian Olsen was given the job of Michael's womanising pal because he conveyed a "love of life" rather than just being arrogant.

Olsen and the rest of the ensemble join Braff and Goldwyn for an alternative commentary, which is inevitably more boisterous than the first. However there are a few interesting observations when it comes to the actors' own neuroses. Everyone has an axe to grind with the script supervisor who apparently used to sit too close to the camera and throw them off their stride. Well, it was either that or the naked women who kept popping up in random scenes...

Thankfully Bilson didn't bare too much skin as in the gag reel she shockingly admits to having "hairy nipples"! Rounding off the extras is the Cary Brothers' music video for Ride, which as Braff tells us in a brief intro, he directed. In all this DVD mightn't spark a great love affair, but Braff fans and manchildren might get a cheap thrill out of it.

videoÌýÌý

EXTRA FEATURES

  • Audio commentary by star Zach Braff and director Tony Goldwyn
  • Audio commentary by Zach Braff, Tony Goldwyn and supporting players Jacinda Barrett,
  • Rachel Bilson, Michael Weston and Eric Christian Olsen
  • Filmmakers' Perspective featurette
  • Getting Together featurette
  • Behind Our Favourite Scenes featurette
  • Last Thoughts featurette
  • 7 deleted scenes
  • Gag reel
  • Ride music video by the Cary Brothers
  • Trailer
  • Technical Information

    REGION SOUND MENUS RATIO
    2 Dolby Digital 5.1 Animated, with music 2.35: 1 (anamorphic)
    CHAPTERS SUBTITLES AUDIO TRACKS
    18 English English
    CAPTIONS EXTRAS SUBTITLES CERTIFICATE
    English The special features are not subtitled 15

    End Credits

    Director: Tony Goldwyn

    Writer: Paul Haggis

    Stars: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Casey Affleck, Michael Weston, Eric Christian Olsen, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson

    Genre: Drama, Comedy

    Length: 100 minutes

    Cinema: 20 October 2006

    DVD: 09 February 2007

    Country: USA