The Last Laugh – Summary/ Review (with Spoilers)
The Last Laugh is an acute reminder that getting older doesn’t mean you lose your will to live but more so take the idea of living more seriously.
The Last Laugh is an acute reminder that getting older doesn’t mean you lose your will to live but more so take the idea of living more seriously.
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| Director(s) | Greg Pritikin | |
| Written By | Greg Pritikin | |
| Date Released | 1/11/2019 | |
| Genre(s) | Comedy, Drama | |
| Good If You Like | Jokes About Becoming A Older Man
Occasional Death Humor |
|
| Isn’t For You If You | You Also Want To Hear Jokes About Women Getting Old | |
| Noted Cast | ||
| Al | Chevy Chase | |
| Jeannie | Kate Micucci | |
| Buddy | Richard Dreyfuss | |
| Dorris | Andie MacDowell | |
| Charlie | Chris Parnell | |
| Max | Lewis Black | |
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The Last Laugh Plot Summary (Ending on 2nd Page)
Al has come to an age where he is a little off balance but he still can maintain his autonomy. However, his granddaughter, Jeannie, is worried about him and thus pushes him to join Palm Sunshine – a retirement community. As you can imagine, for a man who found joy in working, sitting about with people who are retired, just lounge all day, it isn’t for him. So, upon the discovery of Buddy, one of the first people he managed as an entertainment manager, specializing in comedians, he plants the seed for Buddy to get back on stage.
Mind you, it isn’t just because Al is itching for an excuse to get back out there. One of the main reasons is because Buddy cut his stand up career short for reasons which are never explicitly said, but you understand in time. So, after someone dies in the home, Buddy decides to go on a stand-up road trip with the final destination being The Tonight Show.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Where and who were Jeannie’s parents?
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Highlights
It Balances Out The Joys and Fears of Seniority
While getting older is a privilege, especially if you can hit 60, 70, or 80, like Buddy is, said privilege comes at a cost. Take note of Al and Buddy who outlived their wives and are starting to have health issues. How about Al, despite his age, still wanting to work for that gave him something to live for? While you have all this knowledge, maybe feel some semblance like you finally know what to do, then you learn you only got a few months or years left to live.
The frustration we see during Al and Buddy’s journey to New York, stopping at many comedy clubs along the way, helps illustrate this idea that life doesn’t end at a certain age. If anything, like when you were younger, you just find yourself forced to adapt. Yet, in adapting to new situations, you find new ways to cope with the effort it takes. Be it joking about using Viagra, jokes about likely dying before a hospital bill could be paid, while also dealing with your family getting misty-eyed over the idea their kids may not experience you like they did.
On The Fence
What Was The Purpose of Doris?
A part of me thought Doris was supposed to be someone to push Al to live and love again. However, with the death of his ex never being pushed to be a big deal, it leads you to wonder if the purpose of Dorris was for the sake of having some female energy in the film. Especially since Jeannie is barely in the movie and doesn’t have much in the way of notable scenes. And yet, outside of Dorris creating few entertaining scenes of watching Chevy Chase play someone high or hallucinating, she doesn’t contribute much else.
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Overall: Mixed (Divisive) | Available on Netflix
While the movie, arguably, lacks a strong female character to address aging, yet laughing about it, take away that criticism, and you got a rather comical movie. It won’t be the funniest movie you ever saw, in general, or focused on people in their golden years, but as part of the Netflix package, it’s something to watch.
Hence the mixed label. While it has its moments, both in terms of jokes and touching moments, there isn’t anything offered in this movie which will give it longevity. If you got nothing better to do and this pops up, you could do worse, but this movie also makes you feel like you could find better as well. It’s all just a matter of how much effort you really want to make.
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