The Last Time: Review By Brokaw

Michael Keaton stars as Ted, a star salesman for the Bindview Company which is in the midst of possible disaster. They need to get their sales up for the quarter, and Ted has the best chance of helping them attain their goals. He knows how to sell his product and he knows his clients. But when his new assistant Jamie (Brendan Fraser) starts accompanying him on his sales calls, things go amuck. Jamie says he was the top salesman at his old company in Ohio and moved with his fiancé Belisa (Amber Valletta) to New York to move up in the world. The thing is, Jamie cannot make a sale. He says all the wrong things and comes across as, well, as a doofus, to put it mildly.

Ted takes Jamie under his wing, although he is not what you would call a friendly man. Ted is "a dark, brooding, introspective" guy, as he is described in the film. Jamie tells him, "maybe you just need to fall in love." Ted is negative about love and life, but when he meets Belisa, he decides to help Jamie for her sake. He ends up doing a lot more, for her sake. The two enter into a steamy love affair, which, when all is said and done, almost consumes Ted. He falls head over heals for this woman.

In the meantime, the head of the sales department (Daniel Stern) is getting more frantic by the minute. Time is ticking by and the quarter is passing quickly. Will they make their sales quota? Will they sell anything at all? It seems that all the salesmen are each involved in personal conflicts that affect their work.

It is Belisa who helps Ted reassess his life. Only a few years before he was a college English professor. How did he end up as a salesman? Albeit a top salesman.

The film is a bit slow, but the plot twists in the final fifteen minutes are interesting as audiences fit the pieces together. There are a few loose ends, but all in all the twists make this an interesting story. And, Michael Keaton is always enjoyable to watch, no matter what role he takes on.

This film is an interesting look at corporate America and the dog-eat-dog world of business and commerce.