One Small Hope

 "Those that dwell in darkness shall see a great light".

Alistair Pinch is on the verge of total failure. His acting career is well-nigh washed out because of a perpetual drinking problem, and now, he finds himself charged with the murder of his wife, and he cannot remember anything about it! His one hope is a washed-up detective named Waldo who left the force because he too found himself far less competent than he believed, and then became a recluse. Necessity brings the two men together in a final struggle, filled with mishap and misadventure, to find a way back to life.

That's the basic premise of the movie, Last Looks, which I watched this weekend. Pinch (a verbose and eccentric Englishman) is played superbly by Mel Gibson, who brings genuine moments of pathos and comedic genius to his portrayal of someone painfully in need of a deep redemption. Mirroring his struggle is Charlie Waldo, portrayed by Charlie Hunnam, who finds himself taken into a vortex of atypical human behaviour (lies and misdirection), meaning he has no choice but to discover the truth or die trying.

The story generally rumbles along well enough, but it is the moments when something honest about these men comes to the fore and we realise that what is needed for them is far more than an immediate resolution that we see what is actually at the core of what counts. Pinch knows he must change, but it will hurt, and require something more than his usual flare for distraction and delay. Waldo must knock down his natural proclivity to just leave, and finds himself being literally knocked around, several times, to get the message. It's a film that says we may not chose the road we're on, or like what we encounter on the way, but what matters is where this is leading - to somewhere worth reaching or, as in the case of some the secondary characters, merely to a vicious cycle of pointless aggrandisement.

Jesus is essentially asking us to face that same issue - what is happening to you by what you're doing? Are you heading somewhere meaningful as a result, or are you merely trapped in the same vicious cycle of pointless insignificance.

If you're looking for a movie that's a tad quirky but with some good performances and a clear statement of what actually matters, this isn't a bad watch.