Last Days

The third in Gus Van Sant's series of minimalist films, Last Days is by far the weakest, disappointingly flat in comparison to the masterful Gerry and Elephant, which universalized their themes through a hypnotic, almost hallucinatory style. By contrast, this portrait of a reclusive rock star's descent into suicidal depression seems merely repetitive in its doggedly grungy view of the perpetually disheveled, obsessively solitary Blake (Michael Pitt), who wanders about his ramshackle rural estate, mumbling incoherently, and avoiding the business associates who periodically call him about a planned tour or drive out to see him. Blake is not exactly alone; a few hangers-on are in residence, and there are a handful of visitors—most notably a telephone ad salesman and two Mormon missionaries—but nothing happens that might illuminate the central character's emotional and intellectual state, and the occasional bits of religious imagery seem extraneous (indeed, the last, which depicts the dead Blake's “soul” literally climbing to some higher plane, comes across as astonishingly silly). Since the narrative mirrors Kurt Cobain's suicide (though the end titles are careful to say that the script was “inspired by” his death rather than based on it), Last Days may attract Nirvana devotees, but they're likely to be as bored as the rest of us. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a 21-minute “making-of” featurette, an on-the-set look at “The Long Dolly Shot” (9 min.), the eight-minute deleted scene “38X,” the music video “Happy Song” performed by Pagoda (5 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)