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Last Chance Harvey (2008)

tomatometer

70

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 151
Fresh: 106 | Rotten: 45

Last Chance Harvey is an above-average story that graduates to potent romantic drama based on the chemistry and charm of its top-notch performers.

69

Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 9

Last Chance Harvey is an above-average story that graduates to potent romantic drama based on the chemistry and charm of its top-notch performers.

audience

52

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 26,444

My Rating

Movie Info

A disastrous trip to London proves to have a silver lining for a middle-aged American jingle writer in this romantic slice-of-life drama starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Harvey (Hoffman) is about to lose his unfulfilling dead-end job writing jingles when he boards a plane to attend his daughter's wedding in London. He hasn't turned out a memorable tune in some time, and should Harvey fail to come up with something catchy during his trip overseas, he knows that his boss (Richard Schiff)

PG-13, 1 hr. 32 min.

Drama, Romance

Joel Hopkins

May 5, 2009

$14.8M

Overture Films

Cast

All Critics (151) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (108) | Rotten (45) | DVD (3)

All this gloomy masochism is made palatable because of the performers. And yet we must ask: Is this any way to show off two of our finest actors?

January 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | Comment
Christian Science Monitor
Top Critic IconTop Critic

These two actors are so strong that in the end we are left with a sweet and a tender movie.

January 20, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Sure, it's predictable at times, and maybe even a little sappy, but overall it's a sweet movie about genuine human emotion.

January 20, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Watching Hoffman and Thompson tentatively discover each other is joyously tender.

January 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What's in it for Emma? And the answer is ... not much.

January 16, 2009 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment (1)
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Just about everything works in this small and surprisingly hopeful film, with beautifully attenuated performances by Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, who slip into the characters Hopkins has sewn for them like an old sweater.

January 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

To fully appreciate it, you need to be on playing-field level with Harvey and Kate. You need some miles on the love odometer.

September 28, 2011 Full Review Source: American Profile | Comment

Decently avted by Hoffman and Thompson, this is a middlebrow, TV-like melodrama that goes out of its way to show the possibility of new romances and new beginnings at any age.

June 3, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Acaba conquistando graįas ā doįura de sua história e, principalmente, em funįão do carisma e do talento de seus sempre admiráveis protagonistas.

June 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | Comment
Cinema em Cena

They don't often make romances like this, so tell your mum - or granny!

June 5, 2009 Comment
Heat Magazine

A delightful confection that leaves you with a great big smile of contentment.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Express | Comment
Daily Express

The problem lies in a sloppy screenplay and direction that's too slick to be credible. Added to that, while Thompson often makes acting look natural, Hoffman these days makes natural look like acting.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment (1)
This is London

Undemanding, observant and beautifully performed, this is Richard Curtis-lite with added reassurance: no challenging questions here.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

Nimble dialogue, a brace of insightful moments and a slightly chocolate-box view of our city, lend 'Last Chance Harvey' a warmth and wisdom which outshine the more timeworn elements of the screenplay.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Hoffman and Thompson prove you can never be too old to make memories and their romance is certainly one to remember.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Watching them dance effortlessly through this film is a reminder that two actors at the absolute top of their game can weave magic even in a slightly predictable example of a wholly formulaic genre.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK] | Comment
Times [UK]

This bittersweet, autumnal heartwarmer about two middle-aged people getting a last chance at love and happiness exceeded my personal tolerance factor for gloop and gush - but not by too much.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment (1)
Guardian [UK]

Last Chance Harvey is a funny little thing - a perfectly sincere July-to-September romance with barely an ounce of irony in its DNA, just a lot of optimism and good-humoured smiling. It's refreshing, in its unforced way.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph

But while the film tilts progressively further towards the chick-flick (most notably with a cliché-of-clichés trying-on-dresses-to-music scene), some witty moments make this a high-living title in a low-rent market.

June 5, 2009 Comment
Little White Lies

Last Chance Harvey deserves supreme praise for being a vessel that allows cinemagoers to bask in two wonderful turns by Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Digital Spy | Comment
Digital Spy

It's always nice to see pros at work. But while there's nothing wrong with unabashed fluff, you'd expect something more substantial from two such seasoned campaigners.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
Sky Movies

Hoffman's undimmed star power papers over the script cracks in an otherwise polished vehicle for his and Thompson's talents.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

Last Chance Harvey is an absolute gem of a movie and the perfect antidote to all the big budget vehicles that are on release right now. Magical.

June 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | Comment
Heart 106.2
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Last Chance Harvey

Last Chance Harvey is a charming, highly predictable, and impeccably acted vehicle for the charisma and chemistry of Hoffman and Thompson. Almost every scene rings truly to life, with a wry and melancholy empathy. A sixty-ish man facing total family and career meltdown, and a fifty-something old maid who has given

November 2, 2011
Josh Morris

Super Reviewer

I actually thought this was going to be a very light, breezy comedy in the vein of Nancy Meyers, so imagine the disappointment when I find Last Chance Harvey is incredibly uncomfortable. Dustin Hoffman plays Harvey, a loser who's ignored and pushed aside at work and by his family, but he's a loser you can't root for or

January 8, 2009

    1. Harvey Shine: Today is tomorrow.
    – Submitted by Debbie C (2 months ago)

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