The Last Lullaby

"The Last Lullaby" opens with a wonderful shot of the always captivating Tom Sizemore looking even MORE intriguing than usual: staring up at a ceiling fan in an eerily lit bedroom in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. So, he does what he usually does when this happens: gets in his car and trolls the local convenience store.

And this is where the film really lost me: he encounters a group of dim-witted thugs virtually broadcasting the fact that they're holding a girl hostage nearby. Sizemore, being the proverbial hit man in "retirement," naturally follows them to check it out. I know that it's sometimes hard to make every event in a script seem plausible or organic, but if you're going to toss the audience a whopper like this one, save it for the last reel. This development really sabotaged the film for me. If it didn't for you, I envy you.

Seriously...there's a lot of great stuff here. Yes, the basic plot has been done to death, but seldom with the realism and warmth of the performances given by Sizemore and Sasha Alexander, who plays the woman he's hired to kill. I hesitate to reveal more of the plot because this film needs all the surprises it can spring on you.

The plot is the biggest boner here, and not just at the start. As Sizemore gets closer to Alexander, of course he begins to develop an attachment to her. This leads us into some situations that are so over-the-top and obvious, there's no way Alexander could not suspect his true motives. This is "explained" later on in the film, but to ill effect.

I really wanted to like this film more because, overall, the acting is exemplary...I just wished the script had given the actors more to hang their hats on. Most of it you can see coming a mile away.