There's a moment towards the middle of the new Spanish drama The Last Drive In Theater in which main character Marlombrando (Breno Nina) is standing in front of a poster for the classic film Cinema Paradiso. It constantly cuts back to him so we can see that he's still standing in front of that poster. A few of the shots are even clearly there to just that one purpose. It's an incredibly on the nose moment in which co-writer-director Ibere Carvalho shows exactly where his inspiration comes from. I mention this particular moment because this film, while decent, has far too many of those moments to reach the greatness that Cinema Paradiso did with seemingly no effort whatsoever. Another such moment features a character making a crash or burn proposal while standing in front of a Spanish poster for The Godfather. Films about the love of film are generally my bread and butter. Cinema Paradiso and The Purple Rose Of Cairo are the two that always come to mind but there are many others. This one gets by on being not only about the magic of film but about the magic of drive in theaters (which I have some fond memories of.) However, I wished it would have ultimately ended up being more.
The film follows Marlombrando, a troubled teen with a very sick mother with whom he often gets screwed out of seeing by abrasive hospital employees. One day, he ends up on the ground of an old drive in run by his long lost father Almeida (Othon Bastos.) The first greeting he gets is a warning to get out before bad stuff happens by drive in employee Paula (Fernanda Rocha.) Soon, he finds himself falling in love with the drive in (the last one left in Cuba) where he spent his childhood all over again. However, this drive in is under threat of demolishment by businessmen who want to create a more lucrative business with the property.
This film does *mostly* do a damn fine job of showing why film is such a closely kept close to the heart thing for people (myself included.) They show how Brando (the characters call him that for most of the film, I suppose to make typing his name in reviews easier) really does come to love the drive in all over again. It never feels like a forced passion. For him, film is symbolic for great time in his life when everything was just easier. Admittedly, I have loved film from a very young age and part of why I continue to love it is because of how many fond memories it can bring and how seeing a film I have great memories of watching when I was younger can make me feel that nostalgia again. A good example for me is Clueless, a film I watched a few hundred times between the ages of 8 and 13. Watching that film today, I go back to a simpler time for me. The point being, I totally felt myself in this character.
However, naming the main character after one of the greatest film actors of all time is iffy. It's an amusing little one off bit but Carvalho really does stretch it beyond its acceptable length. Also, the story with the mother is very touching but there's one particular scene towards the end (which I choose not to give away) that strips away a lot of the emotion from that plot. It felt incredibly shoved into the overall plot for no good reason. As well, even with the touching moments, the dying mother plot did feel a little too Lifetime Movie Of The Week compared to how well the rest of the film bodes. If Carvalho had just kept that scene out, it would ave worked much better.
I could sit here and talk about how much I could see myself in these characters in my love for film and my sadness that most drive in theaters have been demolished. I found the stuff about the magic that film brings much more touching than the dying mother plot. Hell, I admittedly even shed a few tears at the drive in theater plot. However, The Last Drive In Theater doesn't completely work, or at least as much as I hoped it would. It's worth seeing if you're someone like me who practically lives and breathes film. For the casual film goer, however, it won't quite be worth your time or money.
(3 out of 5 Stars, The film is Not Rated but is equivalent to a PG-13 for some language and thematic elements)
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