Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Overview
The Last Robin Hood shows why documentaries sometimes are better than anything attempting to resemble a biopic.
Trigger Warning(s): Pedophilia
Review (with Spoilers) – Below
Characters & Story
Beverly Aadlad (Dakota Fanning) has dreams of being a serious threat to her fellow actresses. She believes she can sing, dance, act, and even tell a joke. Truth is, though, she is mostly a pretty face. Something which ends up getting her lucky for Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline) sees her on her way to the set and then courts her. Issue is, at the time of their meeting, and first sexual encounter, she is 15. Which, for most mothers, unlike Beverly’s Florence (Susan Sarandon), would be a major issue. However, with Florence living vicariously through her daughter, it seems she is willing to allow her daughter to sleep with a man old enough to be her child’s father.
Now, as for whether Beverly’s dreams of stardom come true due to her older lover, well…
Praise
There is an epilogue which tells you what happens vs. the movie going on for another half hour.
Criticism
The main issue with The Last Robin Hood is that Fanning doesn’t seem invested in what is going on, and the more seasoned actors don’t make up for her lack of charisma. For, as of late, Fanning has continuously performed with a monotone voice and with a consistent deer in the headlights look. And while one could argue that being a young starlet, in the film, that she is fitting what the character should be, at the same time, you have to wonder why someone with more than a decade of experience hasn’t found a way to make a bleh script into something good.
Though, as noted, you can’t just blame Fanning for how boring this film is. The writing doesn’t help, and neither does performances of the seasoned actors. For nothing about Kline screams playboy, and with Flynn being shown as a predator who fell in love with this certain prey, you would think we would get some sort of realistic emotion between him and Fanning. Unfortunately, though, the two have 0 chemistry.
Leaving Sarandon who, even with Florence’s sob story, just seems like she belongs on a bad lifetime movie or soap opera. All that is missing, from her scenes, if not the film in general, is overdone music in the background trying to compensate for the lack of oomph in their performances.
Overall: Skip It
Films like these prove that with a few recognizable names, people can possibly get funding for anything. For between a very weak story, which seems so much like fiction it is hard to believe it is real; probably the weakest performances of most of the actors involved; and no fathomable silver lining, besides it ending within an hour and a half, without a doubt this is a film to skip.
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