Last Call for Istanbul 2023 Movie Review
Last Call for Istanbul is a romantic movie directed by Gonenc Uyanik, starring Beren Saat and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ. It is written by Nuran Evren Şit. Meeting a handsome, kind guy willing to save your life is something that, at least in movies, happens every day. The same goes for the opposite, when you arrive in NY and meet a girl ready to smile at JFK. Yes, Manhattan – at least in the movies – is the city of love as well.
“Last Call for Istanbul ” is a romantic comedy that, like many others and true to its genre, revolves around clichés, offering a comfortable time in a city where, thanks to the movies, it seems like we have all grown up. However, it’s not an American comedy; it’s a Turkish movie with Turkish actors that is clearly divided into two parts, telling us how they meet and the subsequent development of their relationship. The first part is funny and crazy, while the second part is a movie with a more melancholic, even bitter, touch.
Two married individuals, brought together by a serendipitous encounter at the airport, embark on an unforgettable night in the vibrant city of New York. Filled with exhilaration, desire, and the allure of temptation, this experience is destined to leave an indelible mark on their lives.
In terms of production, it’s good: a well-produced studio film that shows us the timeless city in a wild night where the two protagonists meet and fall in love. With less style than “After Hours” (Scorsese, 1985) and more concessions to the video-clip style, the film always tries to provide the audience with a commercial movie.
That’s the first part: a funny and sympathetic romantic comedy like many others that takes us to when love, or rather the madness of a night, leads us either to settle into a relationship or die in the immaturity of the hangover.
The first part is more Hollywood, while the second part offers more feeling, reflection, and romance (although we warn you, with a somewhat bitter sense).
The protagonists are those incredibly attractive people who only get together among themselves and whom we don’t see in the real world, neither at JFK nor at Charles De Gaulle because, probably, they are shooting the next romantic comedy. Both Kivanç Tatlitug and Beren Saat know how to act, at least at the level required by this production, which needed two marvelous faces, and there they are, with their marvelous faces.
We don’t know if everyone is as good-looking as the actors in Turkish productions, but they have managed to achieve worldwide fame, and the industry has known how to sell their product (in this case, beauty) and make it international. Kudos to the industry.
A film that, indeed, provides good entertainment by skillfully blending the sentimental Turkish flavor with a New York-set comedy. This attempt has something special, it may not win hearts or captivate with originality, but it manages to entertain and, to some extent, escape precisely from what it proposes: just another romantic comedy in New York.
