| Last Chance Harvey -Culturewatch DVD Review |
 Last Chance Harvey Certificate 12 Available now on DVD Kate (Emma Thompson) is middle-aged, single and ‘comfortable with being disappointed’. Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) is older and has many regrets. He’s divorced and has been a poor parent. He’s in London for his daughter’s wedding, but misses his flight home and then he’s fired over the phone. Kate and Harvey meet in an airport bar. After a prickly start, they warm to each other, and when Kate leaves, Harvey chases her, wanting to spend more time with her knowing he has few chances left in life, least of all in love. Over the next few hours, a delightful, warm friendship develops and blossoms into romance. They both know that they carry a great deal of baggage, but they also realise that this may be their last chance for a new start. The idea of a fresh start appeals to us. We all carry regrets over missed opportunities, poor choices and wrong actions. The root problem is a deep personality flaw in all of us. How often do we know what we should do, but do the wrong thing? We’re always putting ourselves first and others second. This springs from a deeper problem: we reject God’s authority over us, deciding that we are answerable only to ourselves. We are self-centred. Harvey and Kate don’t realise how deep their problems go, but sense that part of the answer is love. Good relationships are built on openness, honesty and forgiveness. They bring out the best in us. But they can let us down. Kate warns Harvey that she can be ‘truly cantankerous’; she and Harvey will experience relationship problems. We all do. What we need is someone who will never let us down. That someone can only be God. But, like Kate with Harvey, we keep pushing him away. Yet reconciliation with God is the real fresh start that we long for, deep down, although we may not even realise it. Harvey and Kate are fortunate in having a second chance at happiness, but the chance of a new start with God is open to all of us. This article was first published on Damaris’ Culturewatch website (www.culturewatch.org) – used with permission. © Copyright Tony Watkins |
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