Last Embrace (1979)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Like so many other great directors, Jonathan Demme (world famous for his superior thriller "Silence of the Lambs" but originally started as an exploitation filmmaker) is a huge fan of the almighty master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock and made the ultimate homage in the shape of a full-length tribute thriller. "Last Embrace" is chock-full of references, obvious ones as well as subtle ones, towards Hitchock's repertoire but also stands on itself as a convoluted and intensely paranoid conspiracy thriller. The screenplay is often quite flawed and none of the main characters are identifiable and/or likable, but the basic plot is definitely compelling and the film contains a few impressively staged moments of suspense. CIA agent Harry Hannan spent a few months in a mental institution because he tragically lost his wife in a work related incident. When he returns to New York with the intention to carry on with his life, he immediately suspects that he's targeted for assassination. Harry's former employers seemingly want to get rid of him, but there's also a mysterious Hebraic organization after him for some unknown reason. Ellie, a cute laboratory assistant who occupied Harry apartment while he was away, offers her help. The primary plot involving the Jewish murders is terrific, but sadly unfolds slow and often tediously. Just when the all the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit into their place, Demme sadly too soon reveals an essential aspect of the denouement. The sub plot with Harry's agency stalking him is rather inferior, with a meaningless cameo appearance by Christopher Walken and a couple of over-the-top ludicrous sequences with an incompetent Charles Napier clumsily following Harry around in the cemetery and a bell tower. Roy Scheider's performance as Harry Hannan is admirably bitter and integer, but his character is repellent and I'm pretty sure I would also want to kill him. Spotting the Hitchcock references is the most fun part of "Last Embrace", whether it's in the plot elements, the genius camera-work of Demme's regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto or the impeccable soundtrack by Miklós Rózsa. The grand finale at Niagara Falls is excellent as well.

Disappointingly lacklustre thriller stars Roy Scheider as an investigator targeted for death by a mysterious assailant. Janet Margolin plays the student who helps Scheider unravel the mystery. Frequently referred to as 'Hitchcockian' don't let that promise of quality fool you into thinking The Last Embrace is anywhere near the same level as a good Hitchcock movie because it isn't. Film is humourless, the performances are unmemorable & the whole thing just never catches fire in the way that distinguishes the truly gripping thriller. Miklos Rozsa's derivative Hitch-inspired score also gets tiresome pretty darn quick. I was going to give The Last Embrace three stars but seeing as it manages one exciting sequence in a climax set at Niagara Falls it can have four.

There are so many similarities between this relatively obscure thriller directed by Jonathan Demme and the works of either Alfred Hitchcock or Brian dePalma, that it's hard to know where to begin. Even the plot outline suggests a Hitchcock film with someone like James Stewart carrying the lead.But here it's ROY SCHEIDER, a very intense Scheider (even more so than in JAWS), because he never recovered from a nervous breakdown after his wife's sudden demise. And little does he know that he's a part of a plan of vengeance when he starts receiving threatening notes--nor does he know who to trust, and when. Naturally, in a story of this sort, we have to have a femme fatale and in this case it's JANET MARGOLIN as someone who tells him she wants to help solve his dilemma.There are some tricky camera shots, odd angled and always interesting, and Scheider really does carry the film with an extra intense portrayal of a hunted man who doesn't know who his enemies are.Add to this the somber score fashioned by none other than Miklos Rozsa (who did that wonderful SPELLBOUND score for Hitch), and you have all the elements of a first-rate crime story.Unfortunately, there are a couple of drawbacks. The tale is a bit too leisurely in building up to the suspenseful moments--and only Scheider and Margolin are seen to advantage. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN has what amounts to a cameo role and most of the other members of the cast are unfamiliar faces.But it is suspenseful in a calculated, contrived sort of way and does build to a terrific climax at Niagara Falls.

But Jonathan Demme deserves some credit. After having read many of the earlier reviews, however, I tend to agree that a lot of the theme is convoluted, and even the untrained eye will see familiar, much too familiar cinematography.If one thinks of "Niagara", "Vertigo" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much", you will have a pastiche of ideas similar to this film.Roy Scheider is very good, and underplays his role as a CIA/secret agent. Janet Margolin is attractive, but there is way too much melodrama when they first meet; too scripted. John Glover portrays an elitist professor, there are some interesting scenes at Princeton University. The shooting at the bell tower is similar to "Vertigo", right down to the winding staircase.There is an interesting back story about the Jewish immigrants in New York, and David Margulies portrays a Rabbi who deciphers Aramaic messages. Perhaps this part of the story could have been more central, so we would not have wound up with a Hitchcock copycat film.That aside, there are some unique camera shots, the backdrop of Niagara Falls is an interesting choice, and if you are at all interested in Demme's work, this film is worth viewing.