Last Exit (2003)

Although my site has been around for years, I rarely get screeners, mainly because running this site has become only a marginal hobby of mine and because I am, at best, a satellite of Cold Fusion Video. In fact, the first and last screener I received was Lethal Force, which quickly became a favorite not only for me, but for my friends. Much later, from Denmark, I received the site’s second screener, Last Exit, and unfortunately for an embarrassingly long time because of other things in my life it went unnoticed.

As both a reviewer and a film-lover, I can honestly say, “More fool me.”

Especially considering that this seems to be writer/director David Noel Bourke’s first feature-length film, this is an impressive effort, showing an attention to detail and artistic detail in every shot that’s lacking in many more well-funded productions. Whether it’s a sex scene where the lovers are washed over with sickly neon lights and the messy lights of a television or a scene where a lonely, desperate woman slowly makes preparations for a romantic evening with a husband the audience knows will not come home in time, Bourke’s eye and passion for detail and artistry is remarkable. Over top the proceedings there is a persistent pop/rock soundtrack that, while sometimes a little intrusive, adds an atmosphere that is oddly appropriate even at the film’s grimmest moments.

The film is mostly concerned with one character, Nigel, a man with a criminal past who has left behind an ex-girlfriend and child in the U.K., as well as a mountain of debt and some angry creditors, to try to start anew in Copenhagen with his wife Maria. Unfortunately, Nigel has only been able to find work as a petty criminal, and he falls back into old habits when he’s enlisted by a mob boss only known as ‘the President.’ Although resistant at first, Nigel also starts an affair with one of the President’s favorite dancers, Tanya. At first, Nigel’s affair is glamorous and the work the President gives him is simple and carries little risk, but then things get very complicated…

Judging from a plot summary alone, it sounds like the standard life-in-organized-crime flick, popularized by “The Sopranos” and Pulp Fiction, but the focus isn’t so much on Nigel the low-rent thug, but Nigel the man who is generally well-meaning but has no will of his own. His efforts to follow through with the ‘right thing’ only lead to greater catastrophes and he tries desperately to step away from the consequences of his actions. When he tries to push Tania away when their relationship reaches a point of inconvenience, he only drives her mad. And his effort to get out of doing the almost unthinkable for the President is what brings about his own destruction.

The film’s remarkable achievement is that the character of Nigel could have easily been terminally unlikable, but, as far gone as he gets, there is something pathetic and perhaps even sympathetic about his situation. While I think few of us have ever gone to the depths Nigel has gone even just by the film’s opening, I’m willing to bet many of us have felt the sensation of a life out of all control. Morten Vigelius makes the most out of what had to have been a difficult role.

There are other stand-out performances too. Jette Philipsen as Maria brings new meanings to the phrase ‘quiet desperation’ (and sadly the film never really answers how she ended up with Nigel to begin with), Gry Bay as Tania does well at playing Maria’s opposite and Nigel’s seducer, and, finally, there’s Andre Moulin, who plays the philosophical drug dealer Jimmy, who discusses the origins of the universe and the nature of the human race with Nigel, giving Nigel important lessons that go unheeded.

As talented as the overall cast is, the film’s strength lies to its great use of sets, music, and colors to create a mood that can be described as both film noir and rooted in pop culture. If Bourke spends dwells too much on a particular scene and slows the plot with moments that go on longer than they need to, then that’s only a sin shared by many new directors (as anyone who’s seen John Waters’ full-length debut, Mondo Trasho, can attest). I only hope that I will see more from Bourke in the near future.

More information about Last Exit can be found at Last Exit Productions.