'Last Chance Harvey'

Newsday (MCT) - What if, late in life and resigned to your singlehood, you met that special someone and everything went, well, just swimmingly? You'd have a lovely tale to tell your friends, but a less than compelling movie called "Last Chance Harvey."

There's no arguing with the cast, beginning with Dustin Hoffman as Harvey Shine, a disgruntled divorce whose flailing career as a jingle writer for a New York ad agency hinges on a big account. Regardless, Harvey jets off to London, where his estranged daughter, Susan (Liane Balaban), is getting married. To his dismay, she's chosen her mom's new husband (James Brolin) to give her away.

Enter Kate ( Emma Thompson), a prickly Brit whose thankless job as a government pollster requires her to query passengers as they rush to their gates. In an airport bar, Kate and Harvey meet cute, overcoming their initial antipathy to trade lousy-day stories. Suddenly Harvey is filled with vim and whimsy, canceling his flight so he can follow Kate around London. He even waits like a schoolboy as she attends her evening fiction-writing class.

"Last Chance Harvey" nicely captures the blossoming romance between two endearing grouches, but that's about all. Hoffman and Thompson make the most of their natural charm _ and each other's _ but the near-total absence of villains or obstacles saps the movie of suspense, a crucial ingredient of even the most predictable love story. It's a feel-good film that feels too good for its own good.

___

LAST CHANCE HARVEY

2 ˝ stars

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson

Directed by: Joel Hopkins

Running time: 92 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for brief strong language

___

© 2009, Newsday.