nan | 楠木

There’s something sad yet poetically beautiful about aging. It’s a fact of life that everyone needs to come to terms with. Nothing in this world lasts forever, perhaps the least of which being our flesh. Aging, therefore, brings us a new perspective upon this world, but what that perspective is could be wildly different for different people, and even different for the same person at various stages of his/her life.

For instance, as we age and gain experience, we could learn to avoid our mistakes. We learn to be more cautious, more wary of things that look too good to be true. Painful memories of past hurts construct an invisible shield, protecting us from future harm.

But these shields also block out what could be some of the most beautiful and authentic feelings in life, and distort our goals and priorities. We become pragmatic, and pursue material goals instead of ideals and dreams. Thankfully, aging gives us another chance – a last chance – later in life, when we could reflect and understand what the most important things in life truly are.

Apologies for the above offbeat musings aside, Last Chance Harvey, as the title suggests, is about Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) and his “last chance” to make something out of his life. Harvey is a mildly successful commercial music producer, but his career is facing a crisis. His personal life is disastrous, as he is flying off to London from New York to attend his daughter’s wedding, only to find that he is positioned as an outsider by his ex-wife, and that his daughter has asked her stepfather instead of him to participate in the ceremony.

At perhaps the lowest point of his life, he meets the equally hapless Kate (Emma Thompson), who has the thankless job of surveying travellers at Heathrow airport (she works for the Public Statistics Service). Kate is way past the age of “young”, but still hasn’t started a family, and her mom is “peculiar” to say the least ever since her father ran off to continental Europe with his secretary.

Of course, judging from the look and feel of the poster above, you can guess that Harvey and Kate hit it off. It’s a fragile relationship, unrealistic from the word go, but somehow by the end of the film’s 90 minutes, the couple has found a way to face their true emotions. And this is where aging comes in – for both of them, there is an subtle sense of urgency, a feeling of “this or never”, and they share a common view of what matters to them most.

Last Chance Harvey is not a melodramatic love epic. Its premise is simple. It works because of the strong leads and the great dialogue. Their feelings and emotions are sincere and authentic, and this old pair shows the audience what love could and should be – and how poetic it is.

8/10