The Last Supper

Cerebral, subversive, intelligent, knowing, and thought-provoking, The Last Supper is one of the highlights of my video collection. It is also archly funny, for those who like their humour black and strong. The performances from the ensemble cast (even Diaz, who you might have thought was there for box office alone) are uniformly superb, and the director uses clever imagery and other visual tools to help the story along, lifting it above what could otherwise have been a simplistic cinematic piece. Ron Perlman's boisterous conservative steals the show expertly, and you are left laughing and shuddering with equal measure for a long time after the credits roll. Recommended to everyone with a brain.

As I read the user comments for this movie, I'm shocked at the rave reviews this movie is getting from some users. This movie has an interesting premise, but it ultimately fails because of poor character development and the unappealing actors who portray them. I understand that as the movie goes on we are supposed see the toll these murders are taking on the grad students, but the characters are so unlikeable that I don't know why we should care. As somebody has suggested, this movie doesn't know what it wants to be -- a wacky dark comedy or a morality tale. If it was the former, perhaps then we could ignore the huge plot holes. There are also storylines that seem to go nowhere. What's with the kidnapping storyline? And why all the sex scenes between Annabeth Gish and her Jewish boyfriend? It's just all bee-zar. 2/10

A group of self-righteous liberals decide to start killing people who have beliefs different from their own. Their victims emerge from leftist central casting and are typical caricatures as viewed by their murderers. Apparently anyone who disagrees with their world view and doesn't repent during dinner deserves to die. This just happened to be on HBO when I turned the channel and the description sounded interesting enough, and there were recognizable actors in it. Figured it might not be too bad. The production values themselves seem relatively OK, its just the story and acting that is weak beyond belief. How they got any recognizable names into this stink fest is the real mystery here.

No wonder none of the characters succeed in convincing any of their guests to change their minds -- these people are so superficial and inarticulate they must surely be grad students in one of those degree-mills that advertises in the back of magazines. If Courtney B. Vance's character is a Ph.D. candidate in political science, how come he hasn't already figured out what Ron Perlman's character has to say about extremists and centrists? "You've never even had sex!" is supposed to deflate the argument of the teenager opposed to mandatory sex education? Of course, this is about as intelligent as the debates get. The rest of the time they just giggle when someone says something they don't like, or resort to infantile name-calling. The whole movie is a chore, but it has given me a good idea. What if a group of people started inviting over directors, screenwriters, producers and actors who made stupid movies that insult the viewer's intelligence, and murdering them???

Who knew that a lot of elements in this movie from 1995 would be coming true in 2020 America. Like the characters in this movie, many leftists in 2020 desire to eliminate from society those that don't fit their extreme viewpoints. It isn't just right-wing extremists they want to eliminate from society anymore either, but anyone right of center. All in a desire to create some fictional fairy tale utopian socialist society envisioned by a mid 19th century delusional dreamer Karl Marx that cannot exist in the real world of human existence. Some of these extremist types now actually occupy seats of power. The presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders and the election to the U.S. congress of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and three fellow extremists who call themselves "the Squad", has pushed into society radical viewpoints that fit the extreme viewpoints of the characters in the Last Supper. Recently, Ocasio-Cortez famously echoed a desire from other left-wing extremists to go after Trump supporters after he leaves office. That fits the Stalinist narrative reflected in the characters in this movie to eliminate opposition. You also have other politicians like John Kerry (whom Biden just named as his "climate change" czar) who speak of of a desire to imprison those who deny climate change. You have mobs of left-wing extremists like Antifa and BLM rioting in the streets and threatening to kill people who don't share their extreme viewpoints. Left wing politicians condone their behavior and often go after their victims rather than the perps. You have Hollywood and far-left pundits all calling for the same types of things I have discussed. While neither far-left nor far-right viewpoints benefit society, the viewpoints of far-left extremists have proven far more dangerous throughout history. Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol-Pot, Fidel Castro, Vladimir Lenin, oppressed and killed millions in the name of "social justice." It's very scary that these things are right on America's doorstep in 2020. Did this movie predict liberals in 2020? Well, it's looking more and more to be that way. The difference is, as I have explained, liberals today seek to eliminate everyone who doesn't share their viewpoints, not just the far-right. Anyone right of center or right-leaning who voted for Donald Trump are threatened. The real leftist radicals today are far more threatening than this group of fictional characters from this little movie from 1995. There are no invitations being sent out with ulterior motives under the guise of dinner and debate, they are coming after people.

This is a film that can be viewed on two levels. The first level is that of a straightforward black comedy. Five liberal students, who think they have the answers to all the world's ills, have their comfortable world invaded by a redneck racist who is invited in for supper after coming to the aid of one of the students when he has car trouble. Naturally there is a clash of politics and, after a violent argument, the racist is accidentally killed. They decide to bury him in their garden instead of reporting the killing. What follows is a continuation of an earlier debate they had been having; would people be justified in murdering someone if they knew he was evil? Their answer is yes, and soon they are inviting other rightwingers for an evening of dinner, debate and death. On the first level the film is okay. It is on the second, more cerebral level, that the film really succeeds. The great irony is that the liberals become intolerant, revealing the dangers of political correctness and the very real possibility of a left-wing police state in which alternative views are crushed in the name liberal values. A good soundtrack, some sparkling cameos by the dinner guests, and a knockout performance by Ron Perlman as the conservative commentator make this largely overlooked comedy well worth a gander.

This is a wicked black political satire of some left-wing intellectuals who decide to strike against right-wing "extremists". It has an excellent cast, especially with Courtney B Vance, Ron Perlman, and Cameron Diaz (who is a real surprise). It also has a brilliantly witty script, like a 90s Oscar Wilde or George B Shaw with more sharper bite. I thought the setup and the climax were particularly effective, especially at handling complex political questions with an easy-to watch and a very engaging approach(which I have to say IMHO is rare for American movies). A totally professional production all round. This is the way smart independent films should be, and it's a shame not all of them are this clever or perceptive. Obviously not meant for all tastes, but if you're fairly open-minded and like intelligent dark satire, this is a real treat.

This film is offensive and obnoxious but it pretends to be intellectual and thought provoking. It's all based on the ethical question "is it moral to kill someone if you know they will eventually incite or motivate others to kill?". However, except in the case of a child murderer, the characters just kill ordinary people with right wing political beliefs. Of course, in all instances the right wingers are cartoon-like one-dimensional yokels while their murderers(the heroes of the film) are deep thinkers who anguish over the decision to kill others not for what they've done but what they say and believe. At first I thought it was a satire on liberals who pretend to endorse tolerance but have not an ounce of it for anyone who doesn't share their views. I was a bit taken back when I realized it was quite serious. The film even concludes that's it's morally righteous to kill a right wing pundit if it prevent him/her from someday rising to the office of President. I predict this film will be referred to in the future as an example of the disconnection of Hollywood and mainstream America.

This is one of the several dark dramas dealing with political/philosophical issues that seemed to invade the big screen in the 90's. Another prime example but with less heavy drama and more fantasy/comedy is Dogma starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. This 1995 film stars several actors that were big names in the 90's - Cameron Diaz, Bill Paxton and Jason Alexander. The story is very dark and bleak indeed. A group of young college-age liberal intellectuals meet daily to discuss the "enemy" that are conservative extremist and anyone they feel are full of "hate". Though well-meaning and clearly sensitive people, they begin to justify a series of murders. These murders are committed as they invite individuals they despise and disagree with politically and philosophically. They poison the wine using a blue decanter. Visually and dramatically, the movie is one of the few good dark movies that came out of the 90's. Art direction in the film seems to gravitate towards symbolic Diego Rivera style art, especially during the opening and closing credits. I feel that some of these then unknown actors (mainly Cameron Diaz and Bill Paxton) were overly dramatic in their roles but then again they were struggling to get recognized as actors. This was still before Bill Paxton would enjoy success in later films such as "Titanic" in 1997 and also "Twister" which he starred opposite Helen Hunt. Cameron Diaz came on the Hollywood map with "Something About Mary". Even like this, their dramatic acting is logical and believable. The leader of the group of friends is the most brainwashed of the bunch, nearly conducting himself as a cult leader. In a way, this movie looks at how a cult can function. Also this movie is a caution tale: there is possibility for evil in both the extreme conservatism and extreme liberalism. It seems quite appropriate a story for today's divided country. It's sad to say America is losing its democratic roots in favor of an elitist and partisan climate. I found to be a great and poignant movie.

I'm thinking, "What if I didn't waste time watching this trash, disguised as entertainment?" Would I have done something more productive? I think, yes. Even if I spent the entire time banging my head against the wall for the whole time, it would have been a far better endeavor than watching this trash. While ultimately this film tries to make you think about tolerating the opinion of the next person, it conducts its' lesson by creating conservative stereotypes as manifested by left-wingers. So if the roles had been reversed, liberals would be screaming about this film years later. But since the Hollywood community is controlled by left-wingers, you don't hear a peep out of anyone in that industry about the horrible personalities created by this film. The sad thing is that the characters created in this film are really how Hollywood sees conservatives. Left-wingers actually create these people and truly believe that this is the way conservatives think and act. Of course, conservatives don't think and act as depicted in this film but left-wingers don't understand this point. This is the main reason why liberalism is a dying idealogy in the U.S. It's an idealogy that just doesn't get it. It creates enemies that don't exist and in fighting these imaginary enemies, their real opponents walk away the victor. This might have been a good film if the "conservatives" in the film were real. That their opinions were those of real conservatives. But the problem would have been that the liberal characters would have been seen in a far worse light than just murderers; they would have been seen as irrational lunatics that can't see reason. And that's not what the director was trying to show. The idea was to show liberals as being well-intentioned yet mistaken in their methods. If they had done the film correctly, conservatives would be invited to supper, they would have explained real-world thinking to the liberals, and the liberals would have killed the conservatives simply because they could not grasp what mainstream America already embraces as its' philosophy. But, again, this would have taken the film in too far of a supportive perspective of conservatives and that's certainly not acceptable to the producers of this poorly conceived tripe.