After watching the film adaptation of Howard Michael Gould’s novel, Last Looks, a few weeks ago, I just couldn’t resist seeing how close they came to source material. Turns out, pretty darn good!
Also, while I didn’t love the film, I thought it was a unique and somewhat quirky take on your typical detective, whodunnit story. Charlie Waldo is certainly one of a kind, and honestly, pretty well represented in Charlie Hunnam. Waldo is a character burned by a case gone wrong some fifteen odd years after the fact, so as penance, he removed himself from the modern and materialistic world. He lives up on a mountain not too far from his old stomping grounds in LA, but all he’s got are his hundred things and regret. Really, all the details described in the book were almost identical to what they managed to capture on-screen.
Waldo’s world gets thrown sideways when his former flame, Lorena, comes asking for his help on a case. He humors her and checks out eccentric, British actor, Alistair Pinch, accused of killing his wife. Truly, Pinch is one bizarre man. He’s consistently drunk, violent to members on the set of his hit show, and somehow, a good father. Waldo’s got a lot of details to take in when he decides to attach himself to the case (mainly because Lorena’s gone missing), and it turns out there’s a lot of odd characters cycling in and out of both Pinch’s and Lorena’s life. That means Waldo’s juggling a lot of different things at once, but cleverly they end up intersecting by the end of the novel.
Of course, with any screen adaptation, there are always details to be missed, but in this case there weren’t too many. This novel is on the “shorter” side at just under 300 pages, but not too much was left unturned in the adaptation. Jayne’s character had a little more naughty history to her in the book, but I think the changes made her slightly more realistic and believable. Also, I did find it funny that her and Lorena’s appearances were switched to how they were described in the book. Not a huge deal, although it might have been, had I read this story first. Otherwise, I could picture the cast of the film in the descriptions given throughout the novel, so I applaud the casting agency’s success in that.
Both versions of this story were enjoyable, though not something I’m likely to repeat. I will say that I’m interested in checking out the other books in Gould’s Waldo series, and also if they will get the big-screen adaptation one day. In any case, if you enjoyed this year’s See How They Run or Confess, Fletch, then this movie is right up your alley.