This film takes one good character, one good performance and some vaguely amusing banter and buries it under an avalanche of moral obtuseness, male wish fulfillment and bizarrely incompetent writing. Writer/director Geoffrey Haley somehow came up with an outlandish premise that was rich in potential for dark comedy and satire, but demonstrates in the making of this movie that he didn't have the emotional or intellectual depth to do a damn thing with it.Evan (Wes Bentley) is a young writer in Los Angeles who makes a living writing for a particular sort of special occasion. He composes suicide notes for other people. People contact Evan through his website, he learns about their lives and then composes beautifully poetic final messages for them. Only about 30% of Evan's clients actually off themselves, but that's besides the point. This is a morally reprehensible thing to do. It's inviting people at the lowest point in their lives to come to you and then treating them with something worse than indifference. It's not just standing on the shore and watching someone else drown. It's standing on the shore, watching someone else drown and yelling out as they go under for the third time "Is there anything you want me to tell your mom after you're gone?"It's a horrible act and Evan is completely oblivious to how horrible it is, which makes him an even more horrible person…but that's okay. A person with such a stunted and disconnected nature could be a very interesting character. The problem is that the story is oblivious to the awfulness of Evan's actions. There's not a moment in this film where there's any sense given that there's anything wrong with what Evan is doing, except that other people might disapprove. Not only is that offensive, but such profound moral ignorance is boring.The stuff that happens to Evan starts when he attends the funeral of one of his clients to hear if the suicide note is read aloud, so Evan can critique his own work. His dead client's sister, Charlotte (Winona Ryder), notices him and here's where the male wish fulfillment comes in. Evan is dull as dishwater, lacking in any social graces and seems not just disinterested but annoyed at Charlotte's attention. Yet, this lovely, sexy, smart and vulnerable woman continues to throw herself at Evan until he deigns to have sex with her and become her boyfriend. It's every lonely nerd's ultimate fantasy. A hot chick falls in love with him and he doesn't even have to alter his pathetic personality.What's especially frustrating is that Charlotte is a very well written character and Winona Ryder does a fine acting job. There's a dramatic and emotional integrity to Charlotte. She's not just a pawn that gets moved around the plot to service Evan's story. She has reasons for what she does, she's aware of those reasons but she's not controlled by them. There are several points in the movie where Charlotte does the exact opposite of what you usually see from the "girlfriend role" and it's a little thrilling when it happens. For her part, Ryder is more than up to the demands of this role. She really captures the uneasy swirl of strength and weakness, confidence and desperation, self-awareness and self-deception a woman would have to have to be attracted to a guy like Evan. It also helps a lot that Ryder's physical attractiveness here as a grown woman equals all of the sublime cuteness of her youth.There's also a few laughs to be hand from the interaction of Evan and Abel (Ray Romano), a misanthropic client who insists on hanging out and talking with Evan like they were friends. Abel's not much more than a collection of funny lines of dialog and, again, there's no lesson or real point to their relationship because the story persists in denying the appalling essence of what Evan is doing for Abel.You can probably guess that Charlotte eventually learns that Evan wrote her brother's suicide note, imperiling their relationship, and that easy-to-predict point is where the film implodes from the pressure of fundamentally flawed writing. After Charlotte finds out what he did and is rightfully repulsed, Evan tries to redeem himself to her and the audience by explaining that her brother had advanced cancer, was in serious pain and only wanted to be at peace. That's supposed to at least partly ennoble Evan in the eyes of Charlotte and the viewer. It doesn't do that at all, for two very simple reasons.1. Evan spends their entire relationship lying to Charlotte. So, when he says Charlotte's brother had cancer, the first reaction from both Charlotte and the audience should be that it's just another lie. That very logical and reasonable response clearly never occurred to writer/director Geoffrey Haley. Not only does Charlotte never question it, but Haley never offers up any evidence to her or the audience that Evan is telling the truth. 2. If Evan is telling the truth, it only magnifies what a disgusting person he is. In the story, Charlotte is really torn up over her brother's death. Yet even though Evan is confronted with the human trauma enabled by his passive acquiescence to suicide, he still doesn't realize the horror that he's part of. Evan (and obviously Haley) thinks that because Charlotte's brother killed himself for a supposedly good reason, it somehow justifies what Evan does.I don't know what to make of this film. One aspect of it is very good, but the rest of it is so bad that I can't really believe that one filmmaker is responsible for it all. It's like trying to comprehend how George Lucas could create both Darth Vader and Jar Jar Binks. Tragically, The Last Word is mostly Jar Jar…and does anyone need to be told not to watch more Jar Jar?

If you just want the same old romantic comedy, this movie is not for you. It's a bit dark, a bit weird, but totally entertaining. Fresh, surprising and not formulaic. This movie definitely has a bit of everything - some odd comic relief and some touching moments and some romance and even a few things to get you thinking.I loved Wes Bentley in American Beauty and I rented this movie just for him. He did not disappoint - he's a little off-kilter, but in the best possible way. Perfect in the role of Evan - strange but endearing.Winona Ryder, on the other hand, was miscast as Charlotte. I like her and think she's very talented, and I didn't think she ruined the movie. But she wasn't quite right either, and I think this would have worked even better than it did with someone else in her role.But that's a minor complaint. If you're wondering whether to see this, go for it. You'll be glad that you did. I certainly was.

This film was written & directed by Geoffrey Haley.I must commend him for creating 3 fine main characters & casting the right actors in each role.This is a somewhat sad & depressing movie, with very little humor. Somehow it actually works, I watched with keen interest the quirky goings on. Winona Ryder, who has having career other real life problems is back & she is just great, I do hope she continues getting more important roles.Wes Bently who started out like a ball of fire in American Beauty, then had trouble finding decent roles is equally good. He is a fine actor & deserves good roles, more like this.Ray Romano in a dramatic role (for a change) proves that he an do more the the comedy roles he does on TV>These 3 & the remaining cast members make you pay attention & listen.There is only one action scene towards the end it helps us understand a puzzling plot point.this is not a major film by any means, rent it & see it, I think you may like it like I did.Ratings: *** (out of 4) 82 points(out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)

This is the finest comedy/drama I've seen in a couple of years, and it has the most satisfying ending I've ever seen. The film stars Wes Bentley (ironically, Haley shot the famous videotape of the plastic bag that Bentley shows to Thora Birch in "American Beauty") as Evan, who is a professional author of suicide notes. He meets with his clients, gets a sense of what they want, then asks them to keep a journal of their thoughts for a few weeks, after which Evan produces a poetic, client-customized suicide note for the soon-to-be-departed. He has become so prolific that one of his clients won a national poetry prize for Evan's note; the ever-mordant Evan is quick to add that the prize was, of course, awarded posthumously.Evan estimates that 30% of his clients actually kill themselves; one who does is a young man named Matt Morris. When Evan attends Matt's funeral---he often attends the graveside service to evaluate the effect of his note on those in attendance---, Matt's sister Charlotte (Winona Ryder) follows him out of the service and asks him if he was a friend of her brother's. Evan lies that he went to Cornell with Matt, and soon he and Charlotte are dating. Trouble ensues when Evan eats dinner at Charlotte's house with the whole surviving family firing questions at him.Meanwhile, we meet Evan's newest client, Abel (an excellent Ray Romano), an acerbic misanthrope with a death wish. They develop an unlikely bond, and there are some extremely touching (and hilarious) exchanges between the two as they work on Abel's farewell (in one such conversation, Abel, encouraging Evan to pursue Charlotte, tells him to buy her a puppy: "Girls love puppies. They're like heroin with fur!").Things get complicated between Evan and Charlotte as he has must go to increasingly absurd lengths to conceal his true occupation and the real reason that he knew her brother. I won't reveal any more of the plot, because this is a ride truly to be enjoyed by the moviegoer.Bentley fulfills the promise he showed in "American Beauty." He manages to imbue his characteristic monotone and piercing gaze with enough hints of emotion to reveal the depths of grief churning below his icy surface. Romano shows surprising dramatic range while retaining his trademark wit; it will be interesting to see if he continues to try to stretch his acting range. (On a side note, he admitted in the post-film Q&A that his psychiatrist reads the script before Romano will commit to any project.) Ryder is the only weak link here. She does a competent job, her doe eyes signaling the hurt over her brother's death that is only worsened by Evan's seeming callousness, but her acting doesn't rise to the level of her co- stars. Thankfully, it is really Bentley and Romano's film, and they make the most of it.This is an astounding first feature from Haley, who wrote the screenplay in his trailer during breaks while lensing the final season of "Six Feet Under." Although he hasn't yet struck a distribution deal, potential buyers in yesterday's audience could not ignore the thunderous ovation that met the closing credits. Go see this one when it comes out in a theater near you, which it will. You won't be disappointed.