"The Last Movie Star" (R, 1:34), originally titled "Dog Years", is a 2017 drama written and directed by Adam Rifkin and filmed in Tennessee. It's about an aging movie star who still has some lessons to learn about fame. Rifkin wrote the lead role for Burt Reynolds, without whom he says he wouldn't have made the film. According to IMDb, Reynolds calls the role the most "honest" he has played or ever would play.
Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a version of himself, with archive interview footage and film clips from his career supporting the plot. Vic is still living in L.A. where it seems that his only social interactions come in the form of regular meetings at a café with Sonny (Chevy Chase), his only real friend. Vic is very much out of the spotlight and well past his prime. When he gets a film festival invitation in the mail asking him to come and receive a lifetime achievement award, he doesn't plan on going until Sonny convinces him.
The invitation is from the International Nashville Film Festival - which is NOT the (much) better known Nashville International Film Festival - BIG difference. Vic is picked up at the airport by Lil (Ariel Winter), a rude, self-centered, tatted-up millennial who drives a barely running car and argues with her boyfriend over the phone while driving. She takes Vic to his (cheap) hotel, then takes him to the festival - at a bar.
In spite of the hero worship poured on him by the festival organizers, Lil's big brother, Clark (Doug McDougal) and Shane (Ellar Coltrane), who has a crush on Lil, and their friend, Stuart (Al-Jaleel Knox), who videos Vic's every move, Vic is sorry he came. He talks Lil (his promised driver for the weekend) into driving him 3 hours to Knoxville, where Vic was born and raised, so he can hobble down memory lane.
"The Last Movie Star" is a pretty pointless exercise for all concerned. Rifkin wants to honor Reynolds, but wrote a lackluster script which he lazily directs. Reynolds (I'm assuming here) took the role because he wanted to be liked again, but Vic is a mostly unlikeable character, and Reynolds' performance is by-the-numbers predictable. Winter is clearly trying to distance herself from her "Modern Family" character and transition to more adult roles (especially after several animated movies), but it feels like she's trying too hard. This film is meant to be a reflection on fame and aging, but has nothing new to say about either. For a well-done movie about aging, watch the late Harry Dean Stanton in "Lucky", for one about an aging movie star (who receives a lifetime achievement award), check out Sam Elliot in "The Hero" (both of those movies also from 2017), but when it comes to seeing movies about celebrity or aging, save this one for "last". "C-"
Reynolds plays Vic Edwards, a version of himself, with archive interview footage and film clips from his career supporting the plot. Vic is still living in L.A. where it seems that his only social interactions come in the form of regular meetings at a café with Sonny (Chevy Chase), his only real friend. Vic is very much out of the spotlight and well past his prime. When he gets a film festival invitation in the mail asking him to come and receive a lifetime achievement award, he doesn't plan on going until Sonny convinces him.
The invitation is from the International Nashville Film Festival - which is NOT the (much) better known Nashville International Film Festival - BIG difference. Vic is picked up at the airport by Lil (Ariel Winter), a rude, self-centered, tatted-up millennial who drives a barely running car and argues with her boyfriend over the phone while driving. She takes Vic to his (cheap) hotel, then takes him to the festival - at a bar.
In spite of the hero worship poured on him by the festival organizers, Lil's big brother, Clark (Doug McDougal) and Shane (Ellar Coltrane), who has a crush on Lil, and their friend, Stuart (Al-Jaleel Knox), who videos Vic's every move, Vic is sorry he came. He talks Lil (his promised driver for the weekend) into driving him 3 hours to Knoxville, where Vic was born and raised, so he can hobble down memory lane.
"The Last Movie Star" is a pretty pointless exercise for all concerned. Rifkin wants to honor Reynolds, but wrote a lackluster script which he lazily directs. Reynolds (I'm assuming here) took the role because he wanted to be liked again, but Vic is a mostly unlikeable character, and Reynolds' performance is by-the-numbers predictable. Winter is clearly trying to distance herself from her "Modern Family" character and transition to more adult roles (especially after several animated movies), but it feels like she's trying too hard. This film is meant to be a reflection on fame and aging, but has nothing new to say about either. For a well-done movie about aging, watch the late Harry Dean Stanton in "Lucky", for one about an aging movie star (who receives a lifetime achievement award), check out Sam Elliot in "The Hero" (both of those movies also from 2017), but when it comes to seeing movies about celebrity or aging, save this one for "last". "C-"