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The Last Man

2000, Movie, R, 94 mins

The Last Man: Review

LAST MAN, THE
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A one-joke romantic comedy about two guys, a girl and the end of the world, probably inspired by the memory of some mean girl declaring, "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth!" The scenario played for allegory in THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1959) here becomes grist for a series of "men are from Mars, women are from Venus"-style gags. Pudgy, obsessive, post-graduate anthropology student Alan (David Arnott) thinks he's the only survivor of a mysterious disaster that's depopulated the planet. To fill his days (mercifully free of the radiation sickness, conquering aliens and flesh-eating mutants favored by most filmmakers in a post-apocalyptic frame of mind), Alan decides to make a film that will explain where everything went wrong, with frequent references to his fieldwork among the primitive Shitabi tribe. Alan strives (none too successfully) to embrace the selfless philosophy of life developed by the peaceful Shitabi, who understood that violence springs from jealousy and possessiveness. Then Alan runs across fellow survivor Sarah (Jeri Ryan), a world-class beauty. Sure, she's a little on the neurotic side: She can't stand being alone and she's convinced that God destroyed the world to punish her because in her pre-apocalyptic life she was the kind of girl who screwed her boyfriend's friends and her friends' boyfriends. But that's all in the past and, anyway, under what other circumstances would a guy like Alan have a chance with a babe like her? Then along comes Raphael (Dan Montgomery), a third survivor who's as dumb as a bag of tadpoles but considerably easier on the eyes than Alan. The green-eyed monster swiftly rears its suspicious head, and Alan takes a serious detour from his path to enlightenment. This feature-length Twilight Zone episode (to filmmaker Harry Ralston's credit, Alan says as much early on) was produced in tandem with Tamara Hernandez's equally self-consciously culty MEN CRY BULLETS (1999), in which Ralston also plays a featured part. The first-time filmmakers, who agreed to split what should have been the production budget for a single film and make two, should be commended for their resourcefulness. Ralston gets solid performances out of his cast, and the film has a surprisingly polished look. But in the end, there isn't much to it: NIGHT OF THE COMET (1984) is a far funnier variation on similar themes, perhaps because it has both an end-of-the-world romantic triangle and ravening mutants. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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