This review by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press.
LAST DAYS
**½
The drug-addled rock star wandering through this film is named Blake, but he’s obviously supposed to be. Kurt Cobain. (It even says so on the DVD cover, but not in the script — probably for legal reasons.) Director Gus Van Sant has an almost magical ability to make seemingly mundane material — long shots in which nothing eventual happens — into compelling visual poetry. That said, it’s still pretty mundane. The film would be more interesting if it revealed at least a little of the back story behind these characters. Extras include a making-of featurette, a music video, a deleted scene and, best of all, optional English subtitles that will make it possible to comprehend the lines that lead actor Michael Pitt is mumbling.
