LAST SEEN ALIVE, US, 2022. Starring Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby. Directed by Brian Goodman. 95 minutes. Rated M (Mature themes, violence, coarse language and drug use)
The title leaves few doubts about where this story is heading. Direct and straightforward, this is the action-packed tale of a man searching for his wife after she disappears from a gas station. However, the film still has a few twists up its sleeve in an abduction plot reminiscent of Dutch film The Vanishing and its American remake.
Scots actor Gerard Butler (who should have been Jack Reacher in the films of Lee child’s novels!) has made a name for himself in the US with a series of action films spanning 20 years. This is one of the lesser ones, a kind of interlude before he takes on the next… Has Fallen.
After a tantalising opening and a police officer threatening a rather scraggy redneck who claims someone might be dead, the screenplay devloves into flashbacks, highlighting the time and passing hours.
We find an ordinary enough situation. Husband Will (Gerard Butler ) and wife Lisa (Jaimie Alexander) are having difficulties because she is having an affair, even though he is devoted to her. She begs for some time to herself at her parents’ house and asks him to take her there.
They stop at a service station to fill up. She goes into the store to buy something, is glimpsed, and then disappears. The server behind the counter denies any knowledge of her. Will searches frantically and unsuccessfully, eventually calling police for help. When the officer comes (Russell Hornsby), he is unsurprisingly distrustful of Will’s version of events.
Then comes some leads and suspicions with the tension building to quite a twist, especially as Will becomes more frustrated and anxious. He evades police to go on an adventure of his own in the woods that leads him to a clandestine meth lab.
The climax leads to some shooting, some bare-knuckle fighting, some police intervention, and finally some reconciliation. Perhaps the film is a bit of the abduction formula – but that is what many audiences enjoy.
Roadshow
Released May 18th