Last Looks (2022) | Film Review

In Last Looks, Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) is an ex-cop from the streets of Hollywood who, after his conscience gets the better of him, decides to chuck-it-all and retire to a life of stripped-down minimalism. Deep in the hills, his ex-love and current private eye, Lorena (Morena Maccarin), needs Waldo’s help on a huge case: Hollywood legend Alastair Pinch’s (Mel Gibson) wife has been murdered in their home, and Alastair is the prime suspect. Lorena’s presence lures Waldo back into the fold, and our shaggy detective eventually takes the case.

At the forefront of Last Looks is Charlie Hunnam’s Charlie Waldo, a character who obviously used to be hot shit in Hollywood, but has lost a step through his complete social distancing from society as a whole. Despite a stacked cast and much like the story itself, the film is on Hunnam’s shoulders to make-or-break.

Waldo – which is assumingly a play on the fact that he’s so hard to find – begins the film uninterested in the case at all before succumbing waist deep into the Hollywood abyss as he obsesses to hunt down the killer. As Waldo ventures through his journey of weird coincidences, sexy kindergarten teachers, and random ass-whoopings; his character finally finds his footing. Hunnam assuredly portrays a man who is gradually reminding himself of his gifts and why Lorena wanted him for this job in the first place. By the murder’s reveal, Hunnam’s character has become the detective his legend proclaimed him to be, and also leaves us immediately wanting more of Charlie Waldo on the case.

As insipid drunk but doting dad Alastair Pinch, Mel Gibson gets to infuse a whiff of playful mischief as that stereotypical Hollywood royalty with an absurdly exaggerated accent who drinks himself into a stupor, yet gracefully recites dialogue on cue as if it’s Shakespeare in the Park. Gibson has mostly played brooding badasses these past few years, so it was refreshing to catch that twinkle in his eye that is too often left on the cutting room floor as he sashays around his own persona to deliver an eclectic character that is always a joy to watch.

Equal parts quirky character study on the facets of Hollywood fame and slow-burn murder mystery, Last Looks is an engaging hodge-podge of ideas and performances that doesn’t always blend together. As Waldo bicycles around Hollywood and encounters the typical red herrings and fun cameos, a few of those puzzle pieces feel jammed in by the end. Thankfully, Waldo is always fun to watch, and the ultimate reveal with Waldo finally back in his element is worth the price of admission alone.

In a world sorely lacking for engaging murder-mysteries, Last Looks tosses a little Agatha Christie meshed with The January Man into your Hollywood dissection, and leaves us all with a smile and a need to see Charlie Waldo return again to the scene of any crime.

Follow our further discussion on Last Looks via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: