Rent The Last Bus (2021)

Occasionally moving but mostly flat - The Last Bus review by AER

This road movie looks like it got scuppered because of the Covid Lockdowns. It's a road movie that is supposed to take place between John o'Groats in Scotland, and Land's End in Cornwall but looks as if it was all filmed in Scotland. Timothy Spall is note-perfect as the pensioner on a personal mission to get himself to Cornwall in a race against the clock. Spall's performance is the sole reason for giving this film your attention, elsewhere the film flounders with badly scripted, and acted scenes by a largely Scottish cast. The scenes are clunky and poorly executed, making huge sections of this potentially thoughtful film trite, and unconvincing. Where Spall is left to his own devices, this film soars, particularly in a scene or two at the end. All the rubbish about him becoming a social media sensation is corny and schmaltzy to the max. This is a great shame as the director Gillies Mackinnon has made some great films in the past like Small Faces, and Regeneration. I wonder how this could have been with a similar story yet with convincing supporting characters and a much better script.

3 out of 10

totally absorbing, sad and uplifting - The Last Bus review by MF

It shows the kindness of strangers, modern society and little job worths.

We sat totally absorbed about the tail that unfolded on the screen, we had the odd tear of joy and sadness as his journey progressed down the country.

Timothy Spall was excellent.

Good idea but predictable - The Last Bus review by JW

This film was different and typically BFI.

Quietly rambling but a little bit unbelievable that an ill old man would be allowed to make the trip on buses. Had he no friends or relatives to accompany him?

Gave slices of humanity good and bad along the way but predictable.

I like Timothy Spall but felt his talent wasted.

Worth watching as an education in film making and its pitfalls.