That said, this review is of the 1995 film, The Last Supper directed by Stacey Title.
Like everyone who has ever been to high school, I thought I knew it all even when it came to our sophomore film class. I had seen everything that was on our list of films to watch and I already knew what I was going to write about each film for each of our papers, scattered throughout the semester. One day, our teacher put The Last Supper in the VCR and I was amazed at how much I discovered about myself in terms of simple, independent film making as well as how myself and others felt about political issues. I also realized that I didn't know jack shit.
The Last Supper is about five liberal graduate students in Iowa who gather together and share meals with a guest and discuss issues about love, life and of course, politics. Jude (Cameron Diaz - in one of her only good roles), Pete (Ron Eldard), Paulie (The lovely Annabeth Gish), Marc (Jonathan Penner), and Luke (The underrated Courtney B. Vance). Pete's car breaks down on his way to one of their weekly dinners and is given a ride by Desert Storm veteran, Zack (Bill Paxton). The group offers him to stay for dinner and during the course of the meal, finds out that Zack is an outspoken racist, insulting the group and eventually attacking Marc who strikes back with a knife to Zack's back, killing him. Obviously, the group panics and eventually decides to not speak of the incident again and to bury the body in the backyard, under a tomato plant.
Marc and Luke end up convincing the group that Zack was an evil person and come to the conclusion that hypothetically, if they could go back in time and kill Adolf Hitler before he spilled his evil on the world, they would. Why not discover and dispose of the would-be Hitlers before they can unleash their reign of terror upon the world?
The five decide to poison a bottle of wine and leave another untouched; if the person they invite to dinner seems as if they would commit atrocious crimes against humanity, then they give them a glass of the poisoned wine and bury them in the backyard. Some of the dinner guests include Charles Durning, Mark Harmon and Jason Alexander. A local sheriff (Nora Dunn) is investigating the case of a missing little girl discovers an abandoned truck in the woods and she eventually traces the truck to Zack, who is a prime suspect in the missing girl case as well as a convicted sex offender. The group rationalizes their first killing and feels that they've done their job well, protecting the world from scumbags like Zack.
The killing continues, the tomato garden grows and seemingly, no dinner guest is spared. Eventually the sheriff begins getting suspicious and the group ends up running into a popular conservative talk celebrity played by the always great Ron Perlman, who is obviously based on Rush Limbaugh.
As a teenager in 1998, my first reaction to the character's actions was positive. I agreed with many of the issues they talked about and killed others over so my enjoyment of the film was complemented with my idealistic ideals about the world and politics and so on; I enjoyed it more because I identified with them to a degree. Now, after having not seen the film in almost ten years, I can say that what they were doing was every which way but right. I admire their intentions, however, they come off now as children who are so involved with their cause that they forget to look at other aspects of their plot such as everyone's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not to mention the consequences, both human and legal. What I find amazing is how much my views of the issues brought to the table (pun intended) have changed and I simply chalk it up to my own always-changing personal growth as well as the always-changing world we live in. I do not agree with our main characters or any of their guests 100% and since there is an certain charm to being young and idealistic, I do not see my 17 year old self as dumb, only naive and not the hardened person I have become now.
Enough of that and back to the film itself! The cast of The Last Supper is excellent even down to its cameos who are always a joy to watch. Courtney B. Vance of Law & Order fame ends up stealing the show in the last act and proves his chops worthy of film, which in my opinion is where he belongs because I detest TV and see it as an inferior medium. In a rare case, Cameron Diaz takes a backseat and actually proves herself to be a good actress. As Jude, Diaz shows that she can be an actress, rather than a celebrity; her bitterness seeps through her pores and while she may not be the most likeable member of the group, she is the one with a decent head on her shoulders. Bill Paxton is especially great as an over-bearing racist and war veteran. Paxton does such a good job of making you believe that he is that character and not the likeable guy from Apollo 13 and Titanic (or Aliens for that matter). He plays it so well, you end up hating him to the point where you could see yourself killing him. Ron Perlman, as usual does what he does best, which is take any role and adds a hardened seriousness that is believable and captivating, especially since his screen-time is very sparse.
There isn't much else to say about the film without ruining the experience for you but I can say that there is a good original soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh and the film is not completely serious; there are a few laughs and some that lie underneath its surface, as well as others that make you question yourself for laughing. When the end credits begin to roll, you will agree with me that even if you didn't agree with any of the characters in The Last Supper, you will be able to say that it made you think.
3 1/2 Tomatoes (Out of 5)
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