The Last Thing He Wanted is a 2020 political thriller film directed by Dee Rees, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Joan Didion, from a screenplay by Rees and Marco Villalobos. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Rosie Perez, Edi Gathegi, Mel Rodriguez, Toby Jones, and Willem Dafoe.

The Last Thing He Wanted
Official release poster
Directed by	Dee Rees
Screenplay by	Marco Villalobos Dee Rees
Based on	The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion
Produced by	Cassian Elwes Dee Rees
Starring	Anne Hathaway Ben Affleck Rosie Perez Edi Gathegi Mel Rodriguez Toby Jones Willem Dafoe
Cinematography	Bobby Bukowski
Edited by	Mako Kamitsuna
Music by	Tamar-kali
Production companies	Elevated Films Little Red Hen The Fyzz Facility
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27) (Sundance) February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21) (United States)
Running time	115 minutes
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$100 million[1]

The Last Thing He Wanted had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020, and was released on February 21, 2020, by Netflix. The film received negative reviews from critics, who criticized the writing.

Plot

In 1982, fiercely dedicated journalist with the Atlantic Post Elena McMahon barely escaped El Salvador with photojournalist and colleague Alma Guerrero.

Two years later, she pushes her editors to focus back on Central America, but there is no budget, the U.S. government denies involvement and the 1984 U.S. Presidential election race is heating up. Having survived breast cancer, fire fights in Central America, a bad divorce, and constant verbal sparring with U.S. government officials, Elena is passionate but ignored by her WASP editors.

Elena becomes increasingly divided when her absentee father reappears. Dick is stylishly dressed, foul-mouthed, and secretive (she suspects he sells contraband)- until he needs her help. She stops covering the election to care for him, as he's increasingly ill, showing early signs of dementia. Dick asks a favor: meet a guy in Florida to talk about the “merchandise,” drop it off and collect payment. It pays $1 million, and Dick owes half that.

With that agreement, Elena becomes an arms dealer in Dick's place for Central America, pulled into an increasingly escalating situation she is thoroughly unprepared for. Despite all her years reporting in Latin America and her knowledge of the shifting political dynamics of the region, and knowing her father is into some shady stuff, Elena struggles to find her way out of his mess.

Elena arrives in Costa Rica, where she runs into an array of characters whom she doesn't know who to trust. The buyer happily takes the arms, not offering the traveler’s checks she was expecting but cocaine. The pilot, insisting he knows nothing, gives her two minutes to reboard.

The plane leaves without her, Elena is driven by Jones, a sarcastic, surly person who avoids questions. On the way, as he is subtly threatening, getting his gun she forces him out. On her own, she gets to San José, buys clothes, calls Alma and gets a room.

In the U.S., Alma interviews ambassador Treat Morrison, asking what he knows of weapon supplies for the Contras. Meanwhile, at the airport to board her flight, Elena sees that the flight and her passport read Elise Meyer. Her taxi driver runs up to her with a bag, full of cocaine, but luckily it’s marked with her dad’s name, so she makes it through the control point.

In Florida, Alma can’t find Elena’s dad, and the hospital won’t give her the info. Meanwhile, Elena has flown to Antigua, and she reads an article that her dad died. Soon after, she goes to the embassy, hoping to get a new passport, but being July 4 it’s closed.

Dejected, Elena has a big meal in the hotel and Morrison, who she has clashed with before, mysteriously appears. Jokingly asking if it’s her last meal, then he tells how he’s been keeping tabs on her since Costa Rica. Afterwards on a walk, inexplicably she tells Morrison her whole story, then sleeps with him. In bed, Morrison seemingly confides in Elena, talking of his deceased wife’s mastectomy scars. She tells him she thought he had been sent to kill her. He says they’ll leave together the next day.

A gun fight erupts the next morning, and Jones appears out of nowhere to whisk her away. She phones Alma, who tells her about Dick disappearing and later dying, then her daughter, telling her to move with her dad to Florida when he comes. Feeling there is something fishy with Jones, she lets Morrison hide her until he can get them safe passage.

Paul, a wealthy American, provides cover for Elena, taking her in as a type of housekeeper, but also clearly has an ulterior motive. Bob Weir, who Dick called Epperson (his partner), shows up. The realization makes her run and find Morrison. He tells her to meet him at six so she can give him her intel before her flight home.

Back to Paul’s, the house has been ransacked, he shot in the head. Again there is a shoot out, again Jones is part of it. Once the shooting stops, Elena walks away. We next see her turn to Morrison’s voice, and he guns her down. In a press conference, Morrison claims he shot her in self-defense after she shot him first in the shoulder.

Jones debriefs in French, speaking of the various times French intelligence had tried to keep her safe, but she wasn’t sure who to trust. Alma breaks the story of the U.S. involvement in arming the contras, as promised to Elena, the Iran–Contra affair.

Cast

Production

In September 2017, it was announced Dee Rees would direct, based upon the novel of the same name by Joan Didion, from a screenplay by Marco Villalobos. Cassian Elwes would produce the film, under his Elevated Films banner.[2] In February 2018, Anne Hathaway joined the cast of the film.[3] In June 2018, Willem Dafoe joined the cast of the film.[4] In July 2018, Ben Affleck, Toby Jones, Rosie Perez, Edi Gathegi, Mel Rodriguez and Carlos Leal joined the cast of the film.[5][6]

Principal photography began in June 2018 in Puerto Rico.[7]

Release

In May 2018, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film.[8] It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020.[9][10]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 5% based on 55 reviews, with an average of 3.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "It'll be the last thing most viewers want, too."[11] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average rating of 35 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12]

Nick Allen, a critic for RogerEbert.com, called the film "incomprehensible to an almost impressive degree [...] A true Netflix Original Film paradox – not even a pause and rewind button at the ready will help it make much sense."[13] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian called the movie "a two-hour film packed with too much and somehow not enough, The Last Thing He Wanted is a thing that no one wanted."[14]

Accolades

References

External links

• The Last Thing He Wanted at IMDb

На других языках

[de] Das Letzte, was er wollte

[es] Su último deseo