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Excellent, Without a doubt!!

As Good As It Gets

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I've been a cinema freak for as long as I can remember, which must be more than 25 years by now, but do you know what aspect I still like most about the movie-industry? It's the complete randomness of it all and the occasional spontaneous surprise! I can illustrate this best via an example: "The Last of Sheila" is one of the most convoluted, imaginative and intelligently scripted mystery-thrillers of the entire 70s decade. So one would assume that a film like this is either based on the works of an acclaimed novelist or at least penned down by a team of professional and experienced Hollywood writers, right? The opposite is true, in fact. "The Last of Sheila" was written by two puzzle-fanatics, active in the film industry although in entirely different fields, that never wrote any other stories before or after this one-hit-wonder! This may not sound too extraordinary to most people, but personally I'm very intrigued by this type of random coincidences. Anthony Perkins (Mr. Norman Bates of "Psycho") and Stephen Sondheim (a composer and songwriter) apparently share a nerdish passion for real-life scavenger hunts/puzzle games and combined their ingenious knowledge to think up this whodunit mystery that has more twists and turns than a mountain road in the French Alps! And – moreover – the red herrings all make full sense and the details of the denouement (although incredibly far-fetched) are all waterproof in the end, which is quite an impressive accomplishment for two men whose day-to-day job isn't writing scripts! Congratulations Mr. Perkins and Mr. Sondheim; your achievements give an additional dimension of brilliance to an already terrific film! "The Last of Sheila" will appeal mostly to fans of the better Agatha Christie adaptations, like "And then there were none" and "Murder on the Orient Express". What starts as a festive reunion among elite Hollywood colleagues quickly escalates into a hostile and confronting search for the culprit of an unsolved crime. The rich, eccentric and slightly obnoxious Clinton Green (stellar role for James Coburn) lost his wife Sheila in a hit-and-run accident. Exactly one year later, he invites six people who were present at the party on the night of Sheila's death for a vacation on the luxury yacht that carries the same name as his deceased wife. He thought up a seemingly innocent game for which he hands out little cards to all of his guests. The cards playfully accuse their owners of having committed a certain crime, and the purpose of the game is the participants to the crime on their cards. Some of the guests are righteously suspicious and discover that the crimes aren't just randomly chosen, but actual crimes that the guests desperately attempt to keep secret. Clinton's main goal of the trip is obviously to unmask his wife's killer, but a lot of unforeseen incidents will take place before the revelation of his/her identity. The rules of the games and the subsequent discussions between the characters are quite high-level and often difficult to follow, but most of all truly fascinating to behold. Especially during the last half hour, I was literally glued to the screen and regularly re-watched the most vital dialogs 2 or even 3 times in order to be sure I understood everything. It's always great when a movie sucks you like this. Of course, a film like this also owes a lot of its impact to the cast. In addition to James Coburn, the rest of the all-star cast gives away splendid performances as well. According to the trivia section, Raquel Welch behaved like an annoying diva and made herself quite unpopular amongst her co-players, but hey, she's Raquel Welch and she looks astounding! Hammer-horror nymph Yvonne Romain ("Curse of the Werewolf", "Night Creatures") briefly appears at the beginning of the film as the titular Sheila. Another nifty detail in the script is that one of the main characters refers to Hammer horror later in the film, when they're solving a riddle inside an abandoned monastery. I could go on and on about the inventiveness of the script and the particular attention that director Herbert Ross pays to minor details, but you get the idea. "The Last of Sheila" comes with my highest possible recommendation.

For me the three best mysteries I've seen where you had to keep guessing to the end, are 'Usual Suspects', 'Identity' [2003. You really have no idea until the end] and 'Last of Sheila' which is lighter than the others but still a great mystery and fun. It was good to have a cast that were all about as famous as each other so, as with TV esp. where there is one 'guest star' and you know he must be the one who 'did it', here you don't know and in fact are not sure what 'it' was for sometime.I and video stores had been looking for it for years but always heard '...six more months...' before available.

Top notch yet obscure mystery concerning a group of friends assembled by the eccentric James Coburn to stay aboard his luxury yacht to ostensibly play an elaborate treasure hunt on nearby islands. But the fun and games turn into a bizarre and brutal murder club when a plot to uncover the killer of Coburn's wife is revealed. Everyone's a suspect, and through a process of elimination, the pieces of the game begin to implicate certain members of the group, as skeletons are bared and recriminations over the death of Coburn's wife Sheila (Yvonne Romaine, seen in flashback only) taunt the group.Benjamin is essentially the lead player, with great support from Hackett and Mason in particular. Raquel Welch looks great in her skimpy attire, ditto Dyan Cannon and Ian McShane isn't necessarily dwarfed by his co-stars. Kudos all round. Several red herrings and cul-de-sacs maintain the suspense, and the ingenious wrap up resolves all loose ends fittingly in a satisfying conclusion. An early theme song by Better Midler ("Friends") is also memorable. Interesting that this was co-authored by Anthony Perkins; another superb achievement in his impressive film repertoire.The careful dialogue and cinematography, timing and distinctive characterisations concoct an elaborate web of deceit that should keep the most avid arm-chair detective guessing until the end. Indeed Coburn teases us in the first act when Mason says he likes any game in which he doesn't have to move, to which Coburn responds with a Cheshire-grin "you don't have to for this one, if you're smart enough". While it remains little known (surprising when you consider the names attached), it's well worth tracking down for those who enjoy a neatly crafted mystery.

Written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, this is all about Sheila: her death a year ago and a little game that James Coburn cooked up for his immediate friends who were all there the night of the party, when Sheila died in a hit-and-run. The invitations went to husband and wife Richard Benjamin (who's a Hollywood writer) and Joan Hackett, who's rich; couple Raquel Welch, actress, and Ian McShane; has-been director James Mason, and Dyan Cannon, who's an agent.Its intricate plot and fun cat-and-mouse intrigues make for an entertaining movie and is far too complicated to get into here, but, even on my second viewing, it still is somewhat confusing with all of its minute details and contradicting alibis. Hint: pay special attention to the cards given to each person.Can you figure it out before the ultimate ending? Granted, the killer's somewhat obvious, looking back on it, but its perverseness instills a creepy feel to it and leaves the viewer feeling, what just happened?So, watch and witness "The Last of Sheila," if you dare.