Jim Cactus

The Last Duel is a lushly costumed, gloomily lit, predictably violent, humdrum of a movie with a script as leaden as any in all Christendom. I kept hoping for a seque into a Python bit replete with clopping coconuts and a de-armed knight. But relief was nowhere to be had. Making it worse was the pitiful acting and space-gazing by the protagonist played by Matt Damon. Adam Driver’s character was equally impassive as the rapist who forces himself upon Damon’s wife, played by Jodie Comer. This movie seems largely focused on the looming battle between Damon and Driver which was chosen by Damon’s character as the only means of obtaining justice and revenge — if he wins the duel. This is easily the bloodiest and most violent film I have ever scene. The rape scenes which are brutal yet mostly clothed are equally abhorrent yet one must always bear in mind that such abuse of women in medieval society was commonplace even among the landed gentry. Swift justice was also violent, public, and meted out with the faintest nod to evidence or equity. The Last Duel is a disappointing period piece with high production value but little thinking or emotion behind it.