Summary
The premise sounds like the most crass 1980s teen sex comedy imaginable: A teenage boy dying of cancer makes a last wish to spend a weekend alone with a supermodel. Yet "One Last Thing..." is neither crass nor a sex comedy, but rather a surprisingly touching exploration of taking chances, mortality, spirituality, and the price of love. Dylan (Michael Angarano, "Sky High") has been granted a conventional dying wish by a foundation, but at the televised press conference he changes his mind and asks for a weekend with blond sex symbol Nikki Sinclair (Sunny Mabrey, "Snakes on a Plane"). The consequences unfold realistically: The supermodel (who has her own problems) and her agent (Gina Gershon, "Bound") show up for a brief photo opportunity, then split--but Dylan, with the help of his friends, goes to New York to follow up on her promise to go out with him if he visits. The core of "One Last Thing..." is Dylan's relationship with his mother (Cynthia Nixon, "Sex and the City"), one of the most real and affecting mother-son relationships on film. The actors--including an uncredited Ethan Hawke ("Before Sunset")--are uniformly excellent, giving this potentially absurd set-up a remarkable emotional integrity. "--Bret Fetzer"