The Last Thing He Wanted review: A movie that demands you pay attention

Wondering if The Last Thing He Wanted is the movie for you to watch on Netflix?  The Last Thing He Wanted grabs your attention and makes you wonder what’s next.

Based on a book by Joan Didion, The Last Thing He Wanted exposes the corruption of politics, even as it offers redemption in the guise of a journalist’s death. The Last Thing He Wanted is a movie that demands you pay attention. In many spots, it is unclear what is going on, but that WAS the story: What was going on down there during that time?

Elena McMahon(Anne Hathaway) is a journalist who has been covering the early days of the Contras, but it wasn’t getting any traction from her newspaper. Her editor froze her desk and sent her on the campaign trail covering Reagan’s reelection.

While this is going on, she meets with her out of touch father, Dick McMahon (Willem Dafoe), and in an attempt to win his love after so many years when he seemed unreachable, she agrees to help him with a gun runner deal to end all deals.

Problem is, there is no money to pay for the guns. To avoid being cheated and letting down her dad, Elena stays, but also discovers nothing is as it seems and there is no way to know who you can trust. She meets many crazy characters in her attempt to get her story out and get back to the states, like Treat Morrison (Ben Affleck).

The final question is this: Is there any difference between the good guys and the bad guys. If so, how can you tell? One of the characters I did like was Alma Guerrero (Rosie Perez), who had Elena’s back and worked to help cover the truth about Reagan’s re-election.

Many times while watching The Last Thing He Wanted, you feel completely lost and confused. You just have to push through towards the end. It definitely has a plot twist, which leaves a big question for viewers.

The Last Thing He Wanted is now playing on Netflix.