Last Breath, a true story
One of the movies on the Average Dude’s Annual Watch List is Apollo 13, nominated for Best Picture at the 1996 Oscars and was beat out by another annual watch (Braveheart). Tough draw, astronauts. Still, your humble AD regards it as the absolute Diamond Standard of movies based on actual events. When you get choked up at an ending that you knew before walking into the theater? Amazing. Last Breath is not Apollo 13, but that’s okay. The bar is just too high.
Daddy needs a new pair of shoes
This week, the Average Dude reviews Last Breath, a true story. I knew literally nothing about it walking in the door. There were just no other more attractive options, so I rolled the dice. And the dice came up seven.
I hope the pay is beyond excellent
Last Breath is the story of a team of deep-sea divers working on oil pipelines on the ocean floor, one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet. Not only is the work they do extremely unforgiving of mistakes or bad fortune, but the preparations to even put yourself to such a hazzard are extremely grueling. Truly it takes a special kind of person to do a job like that. Mad respect.
Sometimes I take a little nap
I am adamant about not giving away any spoilers when I do a review, that is well-known. And in so saying, I can’t really go to any – ahem – depths about Last Breath. What I can tell you is this…it was an hour and 33 minutes of tight story telling and edge of you seat suspense. Not a second of time was wasted, which felt perfect. And truth be told, I was pretty bushed when we arrived at the theater and wondered if I was going to make it through. No worries there. I was 100% glued to Last Breath from the moment they left port to the final credits.
I have the sense of humor of a 12 yr old
Last Breath top star on the marque is Woody Harrelson, who turns in a decent performance as Duncan Allcock (giggety), the A team crew leader. Simu Liu plays David Yuasa, a veteran diver. And the pivotal role of Chris Lemons is played by Finn Cole (a face and name I did not recognize).
But the real star of Last Breath is the perfect pacing of this drama. We the viewer are never left in one place with one character very long. Where a movie like Apollo 13 forces the three astronauts to interact constantly, the main trio in Last Breath are for the most part isolated, which only adds to the claustrophobic feeling of this terrifying thrill ride. The downside is that you don’t get a ton of character development that way. Good thing the story itself is what makes this a great watch.
It should probably be noted that going into Last Breath and not knowing a thing about the story very much helped build suspense. In fact, I was thinking the movie might be about the tragic fate of the commercial sub Titan, which imploded and killed all five onboard in 2023. When I realized it had zero to do with that particular tragedy, I was able to fully immerse myself in a nerve-wrecking drama whose ending was unknown. So maybe reading this doesn’t serve you well except to hear that the Average Dude gives Last Breath a heart-pounding 4 out of 5. It’s not ever going to replace Apollo 13. But for early March? Man, this movie is a gem!
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