What else can I say? All apologies... — 6 years ago
Consider it a noble failure.
Gus Van Sant admirably tries to veer away from rock biopic cliches in his fictionalized account of the last days of “Blake”, a rock star loosely patterned after Kurt Cobain.
Unfortunately, the end result is a dull, pretentious mish-mash of character sketches and random scenes, from a variety of perspectives, none of which add up to a compelling storyline. Rambling conversations. Quiet moments. Near arguments. The tension is palpable — we get it. But the audience is never given a reason to care.
Worst of all, the movie feels interminably slow. There are many gratuitous shots with little to no movement, where the camera lingers on its subject, without adding anything to the narrative unfolding.
It’s a shame, really. I ordinarily respect and enjoy the work of the people involved in The Last Days. But this was just a poor effort, on all counts.
