SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

hughman55 If you begin watching this you'll be excused for thinking that it is a light piece of 70's fluff. But if you hang in to the end, and pay close attention along the way, you will come to realize that it is so much more. This fluffy little Bonn Bonn of a film becomes quite the riddle; as well as a commentary on Hollywood cynicism and the inevitability of rising to one's level of one's own incompetence. The closing shot says it all. There is also some heavy hitting in the acting category from Richard Benjamin, Diane Cannon, and best of all, the never failing James Mason. I, at first, wondered what an actor of James Mason caliber was even doing a film like this. Money? Sure. Everyone needs money. Oh, but no, he's actually necessary for this story. Richard Benjamin plays a complex character in an understated way that manages to stay within the perimeter of a tricky kind of film. Diane Cannon steals every scene without trying. A lot of talent here, a GREAT screenplay, and a surprise ending that will leave you equally bewildered and surprised.Thanks to TCM we get to revisit these films or find them for the first time. Some age well. Some not so much. A good mystery will never let you down and this is a good mystery. And then below the mystery is another layer that the film has been commenting on since its first frame that just comes down like a sledge hammer at the end. I think it would be fair to say that this film was remade later as, and just as effectively as, "The Player" with Tim Robbins. "The Last of Sheila" is every bit as good with some interesting retro 70's sociology such as; being a "homosexual" is the same as being from Mars. There's a lot here to enjoy. You won't be disappointed.

Charles Herold (cherold) True whodunit's are rare in movies; even when they're based on a whodunit book, they often get rid of most of the clues in favor of character and plot. But Last of Sheila is all about solving mysteries, and the biggest mystery is wonderfully ingenious.The cast is an interesting group, with Mason's elegance, Coburn's snarkiness, Benjamin's nebishness, Cannon's brashness, and Welch's talentless little girl whisper melding together into a lovely 1970s actor stew.The dialogue is sharp, the mystery is smart, the acting is first rate (except for Welch of course, who makes up for it by wearing a bikini) and the clues are all there if you're smart enough. Watch it.

armjan While not in the league of, say, Murder on the Orient Express, this is a lively, almost lighthearted murder-mystery. None of those involved in the solving of the mystery are exactly Hercule Poirot. (warning-spoilers ahead) There are no starry-eyed young innocents whose futures or lives are in jeopardy, basically because there is nary an innocent to be found in sight. Basically, a year after the death of his wife, a filthy rich movie producer invites a motley crew of Hollywood types onto his yacht to play a game of his own devising. Each night during a call to a different port in the Med, clues are given out to find which person in the group is the "Criminal" guilty of a stated crime. What they don't know is that the crimes are in fact real-life secrets of each of the guests, as the cards have been intentionally mixed up. The rising Hollywood sex-symbol was a shoplifter, the married writer spent some time- quite literally- sucking up to the producer (remember, this is a male writer and this was only 1973!), etc. The games are not too intricate- as the leader points out, it could quite literally be solved without walking any further than the ship's bar if one were bright enough- but on the second night things take an odd turn and a murder occurs- followed by a second on the ship. A new game is in motion, and the end results of the investigations done by this group of slimy snakes? Let's just say it's not going to be justice. But everyone will get the parts they deserve. Fans of the lovely Ms. Racquel Welch get to see her at her flirtatious best, and there's treats for those who like the brooding, violent Ian McShane as well. And James Coburn plays a marvellous bon vivant and complete slimeball who loves cracking the whip and making others take the trip.

blanche-2 "The Last of Sheila" is a '70s whodunit written by, of all people, Tony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim. And they did a good job! The film stars James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, James Mason, Joan Hackett, Raquel Welch, Ian McShane, and Richard Benjamin. The film begins with a woman, Sheila, who is married to Clinton Green (Coburn), running away from a party and being killed by a hit and run driver. A year later, Green assembles the party guests on a yacht in order to expose the killer. In order to do this, he has set up a deadly game.Well-directed by Herb Ross, "The Last of Sheila" is a highly entertaining film about a bunch of unpleasant people, and it's done with some dark humor. All the actors do a great job. It was wonderful to see the late Joan Hackett once again and to remember how handsome Ian McShane was when he first started out. Coburn and Cannon have the most flamboyant characters - Coburn is mean-spirited and manipulative, and Cannon as a Hollywood agent is a talkative bitch.Besides the clever plot, one learns a couple of things from this film. First of all, Raquel Welch looked the same in 1973 as she does now, go figure. And secondly, the costumes were done by Joel Shumacher, so now we know where our big wheelers and dealers in Hollywood come from.Really a must see - who knew that Stephen Sondheim is not only a brilliant composer and lyricist, but a scriptwriter as well? He wrote this with the late Tony Perkins, a marvelous actor who also seems to have been a man of many talents.