THE WEEK IN REVIEWS

The Observer Review 16 November 1997

by Philip French

Chasing Amy cost a few hundred thousand dollars, roughly a fortieth of what Demi Moore was paid to appear in G.I. Jane. Henry Jaglom, a key pioneer of American independent cinema, has brought together in Last Summer in the Hamptons one of the best casts of the decade for a picture costing not much more than a million dollars. I wrote enthusiastically of this movie when it was shown at the 1995 London Film Festival, and it's good to see it getting a commercial release.

This self-consciously Chekhovian comedy is set on Long Island in early September when, for the last time, the extended family of the elderly ex-Hollywood star and grande dame of the New York theatre, Oona Hart, are gathering to stage their annual production of a classic drama in the garden. This year's choice is The Seagull, and the off-stage relationships echo the play, as existing tensions are heightened by the intrusive presence of a wilful Hollywood star (Victoria Foyt). In her final screen appearance, the 75-year-old Viveca Lindfors is a magisterial presence as Oona; André Gregory is the director of the play within the play; the playwright Jon Robin Baitz plays his patronised playwright son; Brooke Smith is the seagull figure. There are small roles for, among others, Roddy McDowall, Roscoe Lee Browne and Jaglom himself as a cynical representative of the mainstream Hollywood he detests.

The dialogue of Last Summer in the Hamptons is spot-on, the observation of theatrical life sharp, perceptive and affectionate, the elegiac end-of-summer atmosphere perfectly caught.