Dustin Hoffman plays the title character, Harvey Shine, an American television commercial jingles composer who travels to England for his estranged daughter's wedding and promptly loses his job.
Divorced American Harvey Shine writes television commercial jingles despite being a jazz pianist and composer.
On arrival at Heathrow Airport, he encounters single Londoner Kate Walker, who collects statistics from passengers as they pass through the terminals.
At the rehearsal dinner, Harvey is clearly an outsider to his daughter's life, and is excluded from Jean's new husband Brian's clan.
When Harvey is discharged the next day, his boss calls and asks him to return immediately, for they've been unable to handle an important account without him.
According to interviews with stars Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman in An Unconventional Love Story: The Making of Last Chance Harvey, a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film, the two had wanted to collaborate again since working together in Stranger Than Fiction in 2006.
London locations in the film include Willesden Green, Belsize Park, Green Park, Maida Vale, the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich peninsula, the east Golden Jubilee Bridge, the Royal National Theatre at Southbank Centre, Paddington station, Somerset House, St. John's Wood, Waterloo Bridge and Heathrow Airport in Greater London.
I reluctantly gave in to this imperfect movie, despite the cornball dialogue, pedestrian filmmaking, some wincing physical comedy and Mr. Hoffman’s habit of trying to win the audience over by simply staring at the camera with a hapless deadpan that says: Look at me, I’m still cute as a button, still cute as Benjamin in The Graduate, and I’m still kind of lost and still very much in need of your love.
"[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film a "tremendously appealing love story surrounded by a movie not worthy of it.
The latter is most important, because if you enjoy Hoffman and Thompson together, you might be able to overlook the ghastly prospect of poor Kate's throwing her life away on this guy.
"[8] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film B−, calling it "a losers-in-love comedy with no big surprises, but in the age of Internet dating, the prospect of two strangers trying this valiantly to connect in public carries a dash of romantic heroism...
"[9] Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle said, "With its thin plot and its title character an American abroad in London, Last Chance Harvey comes across as something like a Before Sunrise for the less-than-nubile set.
Of course, the combined acting brilliance of Hoffman and Thompson could elevate the hoariest of clichés and turn almost anything they touch golden – and that is most often the case with Last Chance Harvey.
...Middle-aged romances are, sadly, hard to find on the silver screen, so it's with some hesitation I pronounce Last Chance Harvey not up to snuff.
Yet if we are to see any more romances starring characters old enough to have witnessed both Hoffman and Thompson winning Oscars, it's our responsibility to go out and support this one.
"[11] Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York rated the film three stars out of five, and commented, "If anything can be said to be wrong with so benign an affair, it’s simply that Last Chance Harvey doesn’t feel much like cinema.
But to watch Hoffman and Thompson work the lines is to witness two extremely unlikely stars recapture the essence of their appeal: The tiny neurotic is suddenly Romeo again, while the cool Brit melts in the light of affection.
"[12] Dustin Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost to Colin Farrell for In Bruges.
Emma Thompson was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost to Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky.
Bonus features include commentary with Joel Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, the featurette An Unconventional Love Story: The Making of Last Chance Harvey, and the theatrical trailer.