The Last Kiss

The romantic ups and downs of a circle of friends (Zach Braff, Casey Affleck, Michael Weston and Eric Christian Olsen) and their wives and significant others (Jacinda Barrett and Lauren Lee Smith for the first two and nobody much for the others) are the focus of Paul Haggis’ script, from the 2001 Italian film by Gabriele Muccino. Haggis deftly Americanizes the story and characters, and director Tony Goldwyn smoothly integrates his ensemble cast, which includes Rachel Bilson as a young co-ed who innocently tempts Braff to stray from his pregnant girlfriend (Barrett), and Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson as Barrett’s long-married parents. At its basic level, it’s yet another tale of post-adolescent boys who won’t grow up and the women who try to love them—but it’s slicker and more entertaining than most.