ONE LAST GOODBYE // A FILM REVIEW OF "DEFINING MOMENTS"
The biggest thing that DEFINING MOMENTS will be known for is that it features the final screen performance of Burt Reynolds before his passing in 2018. The sugary sweet romantic comedy/drama is an ensemble piece and Reynolds isn't in it as much as one might like, but it's clear that his health most likely attributed to his limited screen presence. The film is told in chapters, breaking down the story of several people and their "defining moments" culminating during the Christmas holiday. Marina (Polly Shannon) is spending time with her father Chester (Reynolds) who is about to turn 80 and quite sure that he's going to die shortly after that. So he wants to spend as much time with his daughter as possible. "A baby takes nine months to be born. I'm taking nine months to say goodbye." She doesn't buy it but still humors her father and plays several games of checkers with him, fondly remembering the past. Laurel (Tammy Blanchard) is a 40 year old woman who finds out that she's pregnant. Not having planned this, she tells her husband about it, who swiftly tells her to not keep it. Ultimately, she decides to have the baby, even if it means the end of her marriage. Which apparently it does, since she moves into her father Edward's (Eric Peterson) home a few moments later. During this stay, she meets a young woman and realizes that she may be falling for her.
Edward is the respected town doctor with that kind of wacky and wild personality that you only find in films, but discovers that he has early signs of Alzheimer's and must retire his practice. Then there's Dave (Dillon Casey) and his three friends. Dave is suicidal and tries to shoot himself in the head but ends up shooting part of his ear off instead. Dave is committed to a mental health facility and finds that his roommate is longing to stop taking his pills so that he stops forgetting his life. The facilities doctor Dr. Kelly (Graham Greene) looks over every there and tries to give all the help he can. Jack and Terri (Shawn Roberts & Kelly Van der Berg) are a couple whose relationship is marred by the fact that Jack won't let Terri meet his family and he doesn't take their relationship seriously. Frustrated, she leaves him, leaving Jack confused on how to cope without her. Jack's sister Lisa (Sienna Guillory) is Jack's youngest sister and loves her brother but also refuses to sugarcoat her feelings around him. She knows her brother needs to grow up and fast. She's also learning to live with MS and is at the point where she just says it like it is.
Now, if you're thinking to yourself that there's far too many storylines going on here, you would be correct. Written and Directed by Stephen Wallis, he packs so much into the film that there isn't time to truly invest in any of them and the way the film is edited together in chapters, most of them don't seem to fit together anyway. It also doesn't help that the script is painfully unfunny, most of the characters are either unlikable or underdeveloped and the entire film is dripping with a cheesy score in the background that never seems to go away. A few cast members do their best with that they're given, but the characters are paper thin, and their "defining moments" are all pretty bland and often ludicrous. Still, Reynolds shines in his final role, a role that's a fitting end to his career, as he's playing a man saying goodbye to everyone around him. It's a shame that the film is not nearly the caliber of what a final film for this legend should be, but it is still a wonderful treasure to see him wryly smile and pontificate with his gravelly voice about how he wants to be remembered. Even with this cheesy Hallmark-wannabee film surrounding him, he still manages to give one last wonderful performance. Something sweet to remember indeed.
GRADE: D+
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Stephen Wallis STARRING Burt Reynolds, Sienna Guillory, Polly Shannon, Tammy Blanchard, Eric Peterson, Shawn Roberts, Graham Greene. OPENING IN THEATRES AND ON DEMAND AUGUST 27TH.