Disclaimer: I know most of the people on whom the characters are (loosely) based, and the area of the production (the village of Deia on the island of Mallorca), and the house in which it's set. I even happened to meet the director as they were getting ready to shoot the film, so I should have a natural tendency to praise this piece.On the flip side, I've been a writer and, as a young pup, a movie theater manager, so I see a lot of film and video, which perhaps makes me a bit more, um, particular about film making.The good stuff: The scenery is glorious, with or without the "homesick factor." The opening shot of the little church atop the mountain, with the several-hundred-year-old terraces of olives and fruit below, makes you want to call Iberia and book the next flight to Spain. The restaurant at the Cala, where you first see Miranda and Larry playing music together, is beautiful (great food, by the way) but looks more glamorous than in real life.The idea of bringing unheard classical music out of the past into modern ears is a good premise, with plenty of subplots going on to keep things interesting, while the idea of my sister popping up in the middle of all these other complications just adds another layer to the stack of amusing plot devices.On the flip side: I felt that the story didn't flow quite as well as I'd expected, perhaps because the dialog didn't strike me as quite sharp enough. It seems like the actors weren't quite sure where to go or what to say at times, so some of the story got a little lost. (I learned later they were instructed to ad lib most of their lines.)Nonetheless, I'd give it good marks for a light comedy, set in an idyllic location, with interesting characters, and a different premise from the usual "two strangers meet and fall in love, with laughs for all" that appears to mark the genre these days.

Actually, I really liked this movie. It was funny and sad and it kept me hooked right to the end. It made one wonder what if we were all put on an island and had to live close together with all our quirks and idiosyncrases exposed. Many of the characters had chosen this Spanish island to either hide or work out their pain or unresolved issues except perhaps the wife of the composer who it appeared was Spanish. I agree with the other commenter, no one in the movie was worried about the priceless piano getting wet except me and the commenter! I feel that the characters were quirky enough to keep one's interest and lots of subplots to make it more interesting. All in all I think this was a good movie.

What a splendid collage of music and life. trouble souls, complicated friendships..This was not ''American Beauty'' of ''Taxi Driver'' but a nice fussy BBC snapshot into life abroad...I'm not a film director or art critic..just a consumer of film.I don't understand how this movie is and should be criticised for not being a piece of art...it's a British farce...look it up in the dictionary.great fun...some nice touches...and glad not to see Hugh Grant popping in.

This film is poorly cast, directed even worse and you would do well to spend your money sitting in the lobby eating popcorn. It should be a romantic farce. Instead attempts to make it sincere, deep and touching are misguided, poorly executed and immature film-making at its worst. The Four Last Songs do not enter into the presented theme if there is an attempt to bring out a theme, and perhaps that is its greatest flaw: what was this about - wife vs muse, father/daughter, ex patriots adrift, brothers in jeopardy? Or just poor cinematography in a beautiful location. It appears to be an American version of an European melodrama by students with more money than talent.