Last Will (2011)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

With "Last Will," viewers will get to know the great city of Kansas City from the inside of a political machine run by the wealthy Emery family. The two rapacious brothers, Joseph and Virgil, have the judges, the police, and the mayor's office in their back pockets, as they exploit poor and downtrodden immigrants.But the older Emery brother, Frank (Tom Berenger), is a decent medical doctor, who has just married his dream girl in Hayden (Tatum O'Neal). Together, Hayden and Frank plan to reform the two nasty brothers. Unfortunately, Frank dies, and the evidence points to Joseph and Virgil as responsible. The film then explores how the brothers seek to frame Hayden, so that they may inherit the Emery empire.O'Neal is excellent in her role as the kind and loving Hayden. There was good chemistry between O'Neal and Berenger. James Brolin also turns in a good performance as the wily detective with a score to settle with the Emery clan.Some of the performances in this film are wooden, and there is an endless series of plot twists that strain credibility. Still, there is good location filming and non-stop action. This is a "guilty pleasure" film with no pretensions other than action and suspense. A successful child actress, Tatum O'Neal has matured into a solid performer of adult roles in her fifties. This is not a great film, but, by the end, as they say in the musical "Oklahoma," everything is up to date in Kansas City.

I give this two stars but only because I liked some of the clothes and I thought Tom Berenger did a good acting job. As for Tatum ONeal... what the heck happened to HER??! Terrible acting! But then again, maybe she always WAS a bad actress, maybe it's always been about the DIRECTION she receives in her movies, because in this movie she couldn't 'act her way out of a wet paper sack'. Every line she says I could have said BETTER and I freely admit I am not an actor. I don't like it when professional actors disappoint in the way they present their lines, don't you agree? I heard she is a drug addict, perhaps if that is true, it explains her lack of brain cells.The story line ... well, again... not very good, even if rumored to be fashioned after a 'true story'. But really, it's the bad acting. I hate it when I waste my time actually doing nothing but watching a movie (rather than listening to one while I write) and the movie is a piece of garbage. This is one of those movies... I kept watching because I kept expecting, I don't know, something to get better, but alas!, it never did. Don't waste your time on this awful piece. I've made a note of the Director so that I can remember he doesn't know how to direct should I come across another movie I might want to watch that I discover was directed by him.

There is no point making this a long winded review.Not only is the plot so predictable that a blind person could follow it with the sound turned off.The scripting is as lame as can be and the acting, well I haven't seen such animated acting since watching the Woodentops as a child.It is unfortunate that you reviews have to be at least ten lines long, I mean, just how detailed do you have to be about something that is so not worth watching.I struggle to understand how anyone could possible rate this better than awful, there is not one actor who is worth mention at all, not even Tom Berenger.Please don't waste your time.

Hayden (Tatum O'Neill), the wife of wealthy doctor Frank Emery (Tom Berenger) discovers that Frank's brothers have been cooking their family's books. Upon exposing them, Frank is murdered. Framed and isolated, Hayden must find out the truth amid a major Midwestern trial. Channels like Hallmark and Lifetime make these movies often; small, independent, low-budget mysteries with actors of a previous generation. "Last Will" is a similar type of film, exemplifying what can happen when a decent script and a decent budget are combined. Tatum O'Neill does an able job as the helpless housewife thrust into the mystery of her husband; shocked that an outstanding man like her husband could do something like go to a strip club. You work through the first half hour of the film in a daze as it repeats the characters motives again and again, to try and prevent you from being surprised at twists down the road. Tom Berenger is one of my favorite actors, but recently it seems like every film he does has the same basic formula of a bit of action, a bit of mystery, a bit of Berenger. He isn't in the film as much as I'd like but he does not bait-and-switch, either. Fans will also welcome the faces of Peter Coyote and James Brolin, heroes of a bygone era whose rugged good looks and solid support make them able additions to the cast. If it is a cheesy, formulaic, unsurprising mystery you are looking for, "Last Will" does an admirable job at solidifying its place in the daytime cable television slot between the "Family Feud" and the News at Noon. Enjoy.