During a dinner gathering, five liberals accidentally murder their ultra-conservative guest. Sound good so far? Inspired, they continue to invite right-wing guests to dinner each week, poisoning them. As the death toll rises, the moral justification for murder weakens. This is the premise of The Last Supper, a clever and engaging black comedy that benefits from fine performances and understated direction.
* As a gang of frankly putrid liberals, Cameron Diaz, Courtney B. Vance, Annabeth Gish, Ron Eldard and Jonathan Penner accomplish the neat trick of generating sympathy for their characters even as their madness escalates.	Obviously, a film like this depends heavily on its actors and the ensemble here fits the bill admirably.* The surprise standout is Courtney B. Vance, the group's one black member. His descent into obsession is far more severe than that of the rest of the group, and he is convincing all the way down. Cameron Diaz (the beauty from The Mask) is another standout as the gorgeous fashion victim, and the usually demure Annabeth Gish (Desert Bloom, Nixon) shines in her wildest role yet, performing her first masturbation scene (chaste, fully clothed, but one has to start somewhere, I guess). As the conservative victims, more familiar actors take the stage. Charles Durning is a homophobic priest, Jason Alexander is an anti-environmentalist ("I'm not anti-Earth, I'm pro-Earthling!"), and Bill Paxton is a psychotic Desert Storm veteran who sets the plot in motion. The standout here, again, is a surprise Ron Perlman (TV's Beauty And The Beast) as a hate-spewing Republican presidential candidate. Perlman makes a brief but memorable appearance that reverberates long after the film is over (and the other cast members are forgotten; he's that good). He's the group's final dinner guest, and his appearance provokes surprising results. Nora Dunn as a nosy police inspector is the one cast member who fails to make any impression, due, perhaps, to her underwritten character.
* How close to the edge does this film's story venture? Other black comedies, such as Heathers (1987) and Belgian Man Bites Dog (1991)both similar to TLS in many respectshave straddled it.	Though the political satire of Dan Rosen's script is implicit in the concept, he thankfully takes things further...toward the edge.* TLS never reaches the all-out insanity of Belgian Man Bites Dog (which went completely over the edge, indicting both its characters and the viewer in the onscreen mayhem). Still, it goes beyond Heathers (which copped out with an utterly unconvincing ending that absolved the murderous heroine of all wrongdoing). TLS is true to its own cynical line of logic from the first murder to the final frame. It's a film worth seeking outfunny, scary and, best of all, politically incorrect.
	First-timer Stacy Title makes a memorable directorial debut. Title maintains the eerie, subdued tone of TLS, only occasionally lurching into horror movie kitsch such as lightning flashes and hysterical scoring. The film has an appropriately understated visual style in spite of some overly self-conscious compositions. Yet clearly, it's Title's work with actors that is exceptional all of the performances are top-notch. Stacy Title is a director to watch, in more ways than one.
	The Last Supper Sony Pictures Releasing Director: Stacy Title Producers: Matt Cooper, Larry Weinberg Screenplay: Dan Rosen Cinematographer: Paul Cameron Editor: Luis Colina Cast: Jason Alexander, Cameron Diaz, Nora Dunn, Charles Durning, Ron Eldard, Annabeth Gish, Mark Harmon, Bill Paxton, Jonathan Penner, Ron Perlman, Courtney B. Vance
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