In London for his daughter's wedding, a struggling jingle-writer, Harvey Shine, misses his plane to New York, and thus loses his job. While drowning his sorrows in the airport pub, Harvey meets Kate, a British government worker stuck in an endless cycle of work, phone calls from her mother, and blind dates. A connection forms between the unhappy pair, who soon find themselves falling in love.
Watching Hoffman and Thompson tentatively discover each other is joyously tender.
– Linda Barnard,
Toronto Star,
16 Jan 2009
fresh:
Sure, it's predictable at times, and maybe even a little sappy, but overall it's a sweet movie about genuine human emotion.
– Ben Lyons,
At the Movies,
20 Jan 2009
fresh:
These two actors are so strong that in the end we are left with a sweet and a tender movie.
– Ben Mankiewicz,
At the Movies,
20 Jan 2009
rotten:
All this gloomy masochism is made palatable because of the performers. And yet we must ask: Is this any way to show off two of our finest actors?
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
26 Jan 2009
fresh:
Nimble dialogue, a brace of insightful moments and a slightly chocolate-box view of our city, lend 'Last Chance Harvey' a warmth and wisdom which outshine the more timeworn elements of the screenplay.