On 16th July 2024, I watched ‘The Last Bus’, a film made in 2022 about an old man living in John O’Groats who, after his wife's sudden death, sets off with small suitcase bus pass to retrace the journey he and his wife made when they were young, back to his original home of Lands End. He encounters conflicts and obstacles on the way and his peace-making solutions are often shared on social media. This is an odyssey across Britain but also into his own past: secrets are uncovered: most of these I was expecting but at least one was cleverly disguised.
The story seems more or less a rehash of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. It was packed full of cliches. The journey itself, for example. The fact that the hero was a vulnerable, doddery old man. The inevitable confrontation with a racist. There was a meeting with stags and hens. When he was down, lovely people magically appeared to offer him succour. And the entire subplot in which the hero becomes a celebrity on social media was a cliche.
The cliches extended to the format, for example the multiple flashbacks (which gave the film a rather disjointed feel). When Tom cut his finger early on, it was obvious that later this would become infected. When a bus broke down, of course Tom would be able to fix it.
It was sometimes difficult to suspend disbelief. The journey he takes is a reversal of the one he and his wife took fifty years ago. Presumably privatisation hasn't affected these bus routes at all. He stays in the same B&B which, apparently, hasn't even been redecorated. He is clearly very ill and yet he has the determination and stamina to make this gruelling trip. I'm 67, I have planned long journeys (using the internet which appears to be beyond Tom's skill set; he doesn't have a mobile phone) and I know the obstacles you face even before you start. We are in fantasy land before we start.
Timothy Spall acted his socks off as Tom, the old man but some of the acting felt a bit wooden though this may have been a fault of the dialogue.
1MdB gives it 6.6/10; The Guardian 2/5. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a mere 50% on the Tomatometer based on the reviews of 21 critics; the audience offered in 76%.
The disparity in Rotten Tomatoes is explained by looking at some of the comments which focused mainly on the message of the film and the emotions it produced. It is heart-warming in parts and tear-jerking in others. But as David J says, the film is "overly sentimental" and I am afraid its flaws mask its qualities.
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