The Last Laugh will keep everyone smiling
A lot of us grew up with Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss on our movie screens and so it’s nice to see these two American actors have made a film together about one of them staging a comeback at the age of eighty.
Called The Last Laugh, this is a movie made by Netflix and it’s streaming on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand. It’s all about Buddy Green (played by Dreyfuss) who started out as a great stand-up comic and his agent (played by Chase) booked him for a spot on The Ed Sullivan Show back in the 1960s.
But at the time for his own reasons, Buddy just up and quit. It’s now fifty years later and his agent, Al Hart, hasn’t seen or heard from him for half a century.
So, you can bet Al is surprised when Buddy turns out to be his tour guide in the elderly assistance home he’s moving into. Even more surprising, Buddy is still getting laughs and is pretty much the life of the party.
As they chat and get to know each other again, both men - who are in their 80s – say they’re bored and why not try show biz again. Al finds his old Rolodex and starts calling his contacts.
And so begins a tough but revealing road trip from Los Angeles to New York, with Buddy performing at stops along the way.
Chase and Dreyfuss play off each other like the pros they are. Yes, Chase must hold back his own humorous side to make way for Dreyfuss’ comic tour de force. But this casting works. The Last Laugh is sure to give you lots of laughs along the way.
Fortunately, all the cast members deliver the goods here. Standouts include: Andie MacDowell as an adventurous hippy follower; Lewis Black as a fellow comic with an important decision to make; Chris Parnell as Buddy’s worried son; and Kate Micucci as Al’s concerned granddaughter.
Although not a completely perfect movie, The Last Laugh reminds us how important it is to follow your dream at any age.