Last Chance Harvey is one of those films that is able to use the vagaries of the awards season to its advantage. The Gloden Globes are one of the most prestigious awards but are voted for by less than 100 people, so quite often a very small film can get nominations without having to shell out millions on an advertising campaign. That was the case with this film, which picked up nominations in the Comedy/Musical category for both leads, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
The story follows jingle-writer Harvey Shine (Hoffman) coming over to London to see his daughter get married. When he arrives his darling daughter informs him she'd rather have her stepfather give her away and he is in the knowledge that he has to get back to America immediately after the wedding otherwise he'll lose his job. On the other side we see Thompson's spinster, Kate, who works at the airport having people (including Harvey) rudely ignore her questionnaire. She also has a delusional mother (played by Dame Eileen Atkins) won't stop calling her and interefering.
The acting from both is first rate, for the first couple of acts it's the Dustin Hoffman show, but by the end Thompson has stolen in and more than matched him. The biggest problems in this film stem from the writing, there are a few staple rom-com cliches which cheapen it all a touch, coupled with the odd moment of needless coincidence and a useless subplot with Atkins. Also, strangely (considering everyone in the film acts well and it's been recognised for that aspect), the casting is rather questionable - Hoffman is old enough to be Thompson's father and Thompson hangs out/goes on blind dates with people old enough to be her children. She looks great for her age but equally she looks nothing other than a woman in her late 40s and it is distracting at times, both for Kate's work and social life and at times her growing relationship with Harvey. This probably all stems from the casting of Hoffman, he's way too old for the part and they have to cast around him.
It's a minor quibble though, this is a lovely little film with some touching performances and very heartfelt moments. The score is very simple, but effective and the editing is a stand out on the technical side too, moving things along briskly without feeling rushed. It's occasionally amusing but despite looking like a romantic comedy and having some elements which would point that way, all of the main storylines are done for dramatic effect and as such that's the overriding balance of the tone, even though they keep it light for the most part. Wide target of a film, more than worth checking out.