Reminding us what a terrific actor he is beneath all the action star veneer, 82 year old Burt Reynolds delivers a strong performance in THE LAST MOVIE STAR.
As seventies box office superstar Vic Edwards, Reynolds plays a fictional character very close to his own persona.
Edwards lives alone in a rambling Beverly Hills mansion, living a careful financial life that's more lonely than glamorous.
When he receives an invitation to an Austin Film Festival for a lifetime achievement award, his best friend Sonny (Chevy Chase) encourages him to go and revel in the memories.
Vic accepts, but soon discovers that the festival takes place in the back of a bar on a pop up movie screen. Watching Vic/Burt realize that his star is long faded is hard. Reynolds is almost unrecognizable from his seventies heyday, but his eyes are alive and convey plenty of genuine emotion.
The organizer of the festival Doug (Clark Duke from "The Office" and "Bad Moms") is a true fan and he's gathered an adoring, if small group of true Vic enthusiasts.
His sister Lil (Ariel Douglas of "Modern Family") doesn't know who Vic is, doesn't care and spends most of the film arguing on the phone with her abusive boyfriend before beginning to see something special in who Vic used to be and who he still is beneath the surface.
Newcomer Writer/Director Adam Rifkin crafted the film for Reynolds, who he's been a huge fan of for decades. He's given Reynolds a gift with a character that's close to home, allowing Reynolds to express many of the feelings he surely lives with every day.
Rifkin's best idea is visually inserting 82 year old Reynolds into actual scenes from some of Burt's biggest hits.
He carries on a conversation with himself in the front seat of the Trans Am from 'Smokey and the Bandit". He talks about life with his character in the canoe in "Deliverance".
Visually its arresting and Reynolds delivers in these moments, making you feel his pride in who he was and the frustration of being a frail echo of that seventies box office superstar.
The story is simplistic but sweet, predictable but powerful.
Reynolds is excellent.
His interactions with his young co-stars are believable and his dialogue with Chase (mostly ad-libbed) is genuine.
Vic is forced to look at the choices that he's made in life and what his career might have been had be made different choices. It's when he starts looking at what his life would have been like had he taken different personal paths that the film and Reynolds take it to the next level. At its core, its a story about growing old; about reliving your greatest joys and your biggest failures.
There's a reason that Burt was the biggest box office star in the world for six straight years. It's fully on display here in his every-man charm that still jumps off the screen.
THE LAST MOVIE STAR is a triumph for Reynolds, who lifts the entire movie to an enjoyable B.
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