[year/rating] 1998 R [genre] Apocalyptic Drama [director] Don McKellar [starring] Don McKellar Sandra Oh Sarah Polley Callum Keith Rennie

Tagline

It's not the end of the world... there's still six hours left

Summary Capsule

As the world ticks to a grand finale, Canadians deal with love, laughter, tears, and piano recitals

Mutant Meter

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Check out this movie in VHS or DVD, and the soundtrack CD

Justin's Rating: Guess they ran out of Bruce Willises and Ben Afflecks to save the world
Justin's Review: It’s the end of the world! Ahh! Nooo! Let’s go riot in the streets! Knock over a liquor store! Get sushi and not pay! Rip our clothes off and run naked down Broadway! Build a giant statue of Justin out of solid gold and sacrifice every bad actor and actress at its feet!

"We’re in Canada. Never mind then. Orderly conduct. Standard End of the World procedures, eh?"

Oh, wait. We’re in Canada. Never mind then. Orderly conduct. Standard End of the World procedures, eh? And pick up after yourself, man!

It’s the apocalypse. The last night on earth. How’s the world ending? They never say -- the sky is constantly bright even into the evening hours, and at midnight, the whole shabang will come down. This isn’t a movie about how the world is going to end, it’s about how a few different people in Canada deal with their last hours. When the film opens, we’ve already passed the point where the hysteria and horror of it all has settled in, and people are simply trying to give their lives significance in their last few hours. It’s sort of like the entire planet is on Death Row, counting down the minutes, and making significance out of the smallest things.

There’s a man from the gas company who is calling all of his customers to reassure them that the gas will be on until the end. One guy pimps himself out as a love maker, offering his services for free to whoever needs a little, ah, physical comfort in this time. Player. A girl is trying to get to her husband, but her car is trashed -- and she ends up meeting a man who just wants to spend his last hours alone. His sister and her boyfriend go to an end of the world party in the streets. All of these characters represent the different forces that would be pulling us along in this situation: loneliness, sex, comfort, family, duty, revelry, religion.

Yeah, buddy, this is a mellow flick. Yet, it’s mellow in a fun way. With this sort of abnormal situation, people are freed of social and moral conventions, and it gives us leave to imagine what we’d do with our final six hours. Depressing, but liberating.

It is a bit torturesome to the geek in me that the whole sci-fi premise is never explained in the detail I’d like… but I understand. I love the little touches, as the world these characters stumble through genuinely looks as if it's been in the process of winding down for a bit. A crazy marathon runner here, a "Everything Must Go" sign on a store there. Once the situation of the film sinks into you as it has the characters, you‘re free to enjoy the weird discussions and far stranger situations as they do. Last Night is most assuredly different than your typical Friday night fare, but who needs typical when the world’s ending?

The Canadian Auto Industry: A Little Off Their Rockers I call dibs on the Bugles! "So... whatcha doing tomorrow?"

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• The cop standing by while the car is trashed
• Might as well open your Christmas presents now!
• Candy cane?
• Folk music is Socialist
• You can afford to be picky when shopping for cars to jack
• Cars peaked at around 1972
• Man butt - just a warning
• Mutual suicide when the world’s already ending. Yeah. That makes sense.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

Hey, the world's over! Why are you asking me this?

Groovy Quotes

Patrick: Excruciating. Imagine ending it all singing Kumbyah.

Patrick: I don't want to risk having bad sex today. I don't want it to be the last thing on my mind.

Radio DJ: We've reached number twelve on the top 500 of all time, according to... me, alright?! So don't bother calling in. This time, it's my choice.

Patrick Wheeler: You have two others!
Craig Zwiller: It's a collection; they're antique cars. Two old cars is not a collection! It's a guy with two old cars.

Sandra: You'd better hurry up. Tell me something to make me love you.

DVD Review

Nothing except the theatrical trailer.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Deep Impact
• Go