Vic Edwards (Burt Reynolds) was a major movie star in the 1960s and 1970s, but now at age 82, he doesn’t get much attention. In his heyday, he couldn’t walk into a room without being recognized and applauded, but now he can walk past an attractive young woman in the grocery store without receiving even the slightest acknowledgement or attention. After four failed marriages, Vic now lives alone in his large gated Los Angeles home. The house hasn’t been updated in decades, and looks like a shrine to his glory days. Vic’s days of being the high school football star and movie stunt man have finally caught up to him. He is taking pills to manage his constant pain, and stumbles more than walks, needing a cane to get around. He’s become a somewhat bitter, unhappy man in his old age.

When Vic receives an all expenses paid invitation to accept a lifetime achievement award from a film festival in Nashville, he decides to ignore it, but his best friend (Chevy Chase) convinces him to go. Vic was told that several other well-known actors had accepted the award in previous years, but he soon discovers that he has been misled. His flight is coach, his accommodations are at a motel looking over a busy highway, and his “limo” is a battered car driven by a foul-mouthed, scantily clad young woman named Lil (Ariel Winter), whose brother Doug (Clark Duke) runs the local film festival in the basement of his bar. While Doug and his friend Shane (Ellar Coltrane) genuinely appreciate Vic and his body of work, Vic feels like he’s been duped and doesn’t want to participate in the festival, which is just a gathering of lonely film geeks rather than a prestigious award. Instead, Vic decides to go on a soul-searching road trip to Knoxville along with his unruly driver Lil, so that he can confront his past, and his bad choices that have ultimately led him to where he is today.

The Last Movie Star is a story about growing older, accepting that your youthful glory days are behind you, coming to terms with the mistakes of your past, and moving on with your life. The core of the film is about this has-been actor dealing with growing old, and trying to come to terms with the reckless choices of his youth that have led him to where he is today. He’s become an angry, bitter old man, whose glory days are long gone. At the same time, Vic’s young driver, Lil, is on a reckless path of her own. She is in a destructive relationship with with a no-good, cheating boyfriend who’s slightly abusive towards her, but she keeps going back to him. When Vic first meets Lil, he thinks she’s a mess. She dresses trashy, she’s foul-mouthed, and while she appears to be a talented artist, she doesn’t seem to have much sense of self-worth. The two come from completely different generations, and sometimes don’t even seem to speak the same language. However, as he gets to know Lil more, Vic sees some of himself in this young woman, and wants to help her get on the correct path and not make the same mistakes he did. Meanwhile, Lil first sees Vic as this bitter old man. She doesn’t have the appreciation or devotion for him that her brother does. In fact, she hardly knows anything about Vic. But as she goes on this soul-searching trip with Vic, she starts to understand the hardships he’s faced in his life, and appreciates him more.

This film was written specifically for Burt Reynolds by writer/director Adam Rifkin. The character of Vic is a thinly veiled version of the actor, mirroring much of the Reynold’s own life, both past and present. Rifkin wanted to prove that Reynolds could still be an amazing actor if given the proper role, and I think he is quite successful in that regard. The film contains two dream sequences where Vic confronts the younger version of himself, trying to warn himself that his reckless behavior will lead him to the state he’s currently in. For these scenes, Reynolds acts against himself in scenes from Smokey and the Bandit and Deliverance. It’s quite remarkable to see how much the actor has changed over the past 40+ years and how time has caught up with him. The film also makes use of old clips of Reynolds at awards ceremonies and being interviewed by people like David Frost.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It’s an interesting look at someone dealing with growing old. The characters felt fully-formed, and there is a nice mix of drama and humor as we see these characters go on their personal journeys. Burt Reynolds delivers a raw, captivating, and deeply personal performance that proves that even at age 82 he’s still got it. It’s very difficult to separate Vic from Burt when watching this movie as they feel one in the same, which adds an additional level of realism to the film. Ariel Winter also delivers a strong performance with a character that is drastically different from her Modern Family character. However, I wish they had selected a different costume for her character. I found Lil’s trashy outfit to be both unflattering and distracting at times. In one scene Lil and Vic crash a wedding reception, and it was odd that everyone seems to be nonplussed by that fact that she is out there on the dance floor with her butt cheeks hanging out, looking like a prostitute, while everyone else at the reception is formally dressed.

The Blu-ray presentation looks quite nice, with a primarily clean, detailed picture. Some of the older footage is not as crisp as the new footage, though some scenes have intentionally added grain to evoke a nostalgic feeling. The two dream sequences where Burt Reynolds acts against his decades-old performances are well done and don’t look obviously green screened. The Blu-ray’s soundtrack is also quite good. Dialogue is clear, and the presentation makes nice use of the surround and stereo channels. This is evident in scenes where cars speed across the screen, or a plane flies overhead, and especially in one particular scene where Vic is haunted by the women in his past and you can hear their voices echoing all around you.

The Blu-ray comes packed in a standard HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover. The disc contains a small assortment of bonus features, including eight deleted scenes, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette and audio commentary with the writer/director. The release also includes a digital copy of the film (my copy was missing the digital copy sheet, but I was easily able to obtain a replacement by contacting Lionsgate support).

What’s Included:

Film: (1:43:43)

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital HD:

• Digital HD copy redeemable via Vudu or FandangoNow

Extras:

• Audio Commentary With Director Adam Rifkin (1:43:43)
  The writer/director of film shares some interesting stories about how the movie was made. He starts off by warning listeners that his commentary may be repetitive with other interviews he has done, and rightfully so. Much of the information he shares is also mentioned in the behind-the-scenes featurette included on this disc, as well as in an interview he did for a recent episode of the Writer’s Room podcast (and likely other interviews he’s done about the film). Some of the topics he covers are how he wrote film for Burt, shooting in Tennessee, where and how visual effects are used, and stories about casting, the sets, the props, and finding old clips of Burt Reynolds. You can tell this is Rifkin’s first audio commentary. He’s a little disorganized at times, interrupting his own train of thought/stories and then forgetting where he left off. He also points out his friends who have cameos in the film, which is information most listeners probably don’t care about. Rifkin also shares information about the production that he probably shouldn’t have (such as mentioning how he used a non-paid non-union actor). At one point, you can even hear him yelling to someone else in the room, asking if they are going to edit the commentary. It’s not the greatest commentary, but there are a few interesting anecdotes and stories strewn throughout.
• The Best Is Yet to Come: Adam Rifkin On The Last Movie Star (17:05)
  The writer/director/producer talks about why he wanted to make this film, Burt’s reaction to the script, why it was important for Burt to play this role, how Vic is similar to Burt, how Chevy Chase and Ariel Winter were cast, shooting in Tennessee, putting Vic into Burt’s movies, and more. The featurette also includes behind-the-scenes photos and footage.
• Deleted Scenes (12:47)
  Collection of eight deleted scenes that play back-to-back. Some of these include Vic showing his age as he tries to drive away from the veterinarian’s office, Vic meeting an older fan in the grocery store, Lil cursing at a cop for giving her a parking ticket, a flashback of Vic as a child in his house with his brother, Lil looping the car around trying to get Vic to join her in leaving Knoxville, Vic and Lil outside the old age home as Vic recounts what happened to his daughter, and Vic confronting Bjorn outside the bar after seeing how he treats Lil.
• Trailers (12:24)
  Trailers for The Disaster Artist, Lady Bird, The Florida Project, The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, and The Ballad of Lefty Brown.

Final Thoughts:

Burt Reynolds gives a stellar performance as an aging movie star dealing with the consequences of a reckless youth and coming to terms with growing old. The film is very much a heartfelt love letter of appreciation to Burt Reynolds, both to his career and to the actor himself. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, and includes a small selection of bonus material as well as a digital copy of the film. The film is definitely worth checking out for Reynolds’ amazing, very much autobiographical performance alone.