Last Seen Alive (2022) User Reviews

Straight forward plot, but still an enjoyable movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 4 June 2022]

Well, while the 2022 crime thriller "Last Seen Alive" is hardly rocket science or a movie that particularly revolutionized the genre, then it was actually still rather enjoyable.

Sure, "Last Seen Alive" was pretty generic and straight forward, even for a movie of this genre. But writer Marc Frydman still managed to churn out a storyline and script that was interesting, enjoyable and entertaining in the good old fashioned way that a movie should be entertaining.

No secret about the fact that I sat down to watch "Last Seen Alive" because it had Gerard Butler on the cast list, and yeah he did carry the movie rather well with his performance. I will say that his performance was actually one that showed realism and a human touch to it, making it all the more realistic.

This wasn't a movie that bolstered a lot of high profile actors and actresses. But the movie does manage to show that you don't need actors and actresses paid laughably-insane-amounts of money per movie to be an enjoyable one. The actors and actresses in this movie all put on good and realistic performances, carrying the movie rather nicely.

If you enjoy crime thrillers then "Last Seen Alive" is worth taking the time to watch. I was actually genuinely entertained by the movie from start to end.

My rating of director Brian Goodman's "Last Seen Alive" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Low-Budget Butler?

[gab-67599 · 6/10 · 5 June 2022]

The way this movie was shot felt low-budget. Not that it was not entertaining, it was but it just felt like a b- movie. Gerard is always at his best and he was a bad-ass in this movie. Everyone else their acting felt a bit forced except for the wife she was good. Do not expect magic going into this movie but it was at least half good, so there was that I guess. Good for a one time watch, I hope Butler steps up his game and works with a REAL director next time. He is WAY too good for a movie like this!

Been done before and been done better

[jonsid57 · 5/10 · 20 May 2022]

Average thriller about a man whose wife disappears at a gas station and he starts looking for her . The film is a bit similar to Taken , Gone Girl , The Vanishing and Breakdown. Sadly it's not as good as any or them . Gerard Butler is okay as the husband in search of his missing wife. (who isn't a likeable character) Luckily the film isn't too long ., The film didn't get much publicity and I can see why.,

Entertaining thriller

[TreasureHunterGirl · 7/10 · 23 May 2022]

I love these movies that Gerard Butler makes now. I'm never gonna complain about him running around kicking butt and being the hero of the piece.

I loved the pacing in this one. After all the excessively long movies being released lately it was nice to see a 90 minute movie at the cinema. It felt like it just flew by. Plenty of action and tension which meant it never dragged or had any unnecessary scenes.

The sound and score were also fantastic. It's worth seeing at the movies just for that.

I just really like movies that know their movies, and Last Seen Alive definitely fits into that category.

It's an easy, enjoyable watch which does exactly what a movie is supposed to do: it entertains.

An unexceptional but taut & engaging enough thriller - that delivers what it sets out to (but no more)

[danieljfarthing · 7/10 · 6 August 2022]

In "Last Seen Alive" grizzly Gerrard Butler is dropping mis-matched wife Jamie Alexander at her parents' home for a break from each other, when they stop for petrol... and she disappears. As Butler frantically searches for her the plot veers to kidnap, a seedy remote meth lab farm, cop Russell Hornsby, hillbilly baddies like Ethan Embry & Michael Irby, and a fair amount of punch-ups, shootings & explosions. Those expecting twists or complexity may be disappointed, but director Brian Goodman & writer Marc Frydman deliver a taut & engaging enough thriller that's thankfully not as dumb & bloated as so many others. For what it is, it delivers ok. Fair dinkum.

Wow, talk about low quality writing!!!

[fridayblues · 4/10 · 6 June 2022]

OMG!!! The writers of this movie must have failed script writing class badly! The dialogues are terrible! Some of the stuff the actors are saying either makes no sense and/or are cringy as hell! I get that compared to the normal movies that Gerald Butler usually did, this is pretty low-budget but holy hell, the script for this is so bad! This is especially apparent with Jamie's character's parents, the dialogues that came out from the mouth of those two are so stupid and on top of that, neither one can act to save their lives!!! My god, did Gerald needed a paycheck that bad?

Wasn't so bad

[jindann · 6/10 · 4 June 2022]

Pretty standard kidnapping movie, which was kind of like a rough version of taken. The acting and thrill was rather decent, the plot however was a bit lacking as the story is a bit short well as the ending is a little let down. One cgi scene was terrible that looked like it was done by students. It should deserve a better rating if it had ended with better twist and intensity, 5.7 is a little underrated this movie deserves a 6.

A Day in the Life of...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 3 June 2022]

Frantically chasing a lost wife who's disappeared, poor old Will can't make his mind up if he's Scottish or just weird, you'll soon come to realise that this is just a cunning ploy, to irritate, provoke and needle, even to annoy.

Love a bit of Butler at his best, sadly, on this occasion, it isn't the case.

Basic but effective thriller

[omendata · 6/10 · 24 May 2022]

Ok so this is obviously a total ripoff of the superlative film The Vanishing (1993) with Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock which is one of my all time favourite thrillers so this is obviously never going to compete.

The story is very basic and I was hoping for a true to life ending but no they had to go and give us the usual Hollywood ending instead of brutal reality.

The film is mainly carried on the shoulders of Gerard Butler and the excellent Russell Hornsby as without them it would have just fallen into the category of a Lifetime Wet Sunday afternoon movie. Even so it is as basic as a plot can get but with good acting and some decent direction it lifts it above your usual mundane thriller so gets an above average 6/10.

Last Seen Alive

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 8 June 2022]

Taken, The Vanishing, Frantic and Breakdown are inspirations for Gerard Butler witless underpowered action thriller.

Will Spann (Butler) is a property developer who has hit a rough patch in his marriage with wife Lisa.

While taking to her parents house, he stops at a gas station and she disappears, believed to be abducted while Will was talking to someone on the phone.

The police led by Detective Paterson (Russell Hornsby) is sceptical of Will at first and so are her parents.

Will decides to conduct his own search, his way. One lead is a CCTV image of someone his wife might have been familiar with.

The picture opens with a flashforward that robs the movie of suspense. The movie has too many plot holes and absurd situations.

Butler plays an everyman who has to descend into violence in order to find his wife. It is Hornsby who comes off best.

Fast-Paced Action & Slick Screenplay

[lavatch · 8/10 · 15 July 2022]

During a routine stop for gas, Will Spann is filling up the tank while his wife Lisa goes into the convenience store to buy water. But she never returns to the car. "Last Seen Alive" tells the story of Will's desperate search for his missing wife.

From the outset, it appears that Lisa has been kidnapped. But the rocky state of the marriage of Will and Lisa raises suspicion for Detective Paterson. The detective is one of the most intriguing characters in the film because of his clear thinking and efficiency. It was a foolish decision on the part of Will to turn vigilante and not inform the detective about the clues he was discovering.

An unsavory group of characters unfolded around the seedy character of "Knuckles," whose connection with a drug kingpin named Frank holds the key to understanding what happened to Lisa. The film is sustained by the charismatic performance of Gerard Butler in the role of Will.

In the role of Lisa, Jaime Alexander did not have much screen time. But the flashback scenes offered a portrait of an adulterous wife who, after the affair, demanded a break in her marriage in order to have some "space." The accommodating husband Will was dropping her off with her parents at the time of the kidnapping.

From the outset, Will becomes crazed and will stop at nothing to find his wife. The parallel scenes with Detective Patterson worked in tandem with Will's discovery of Frank's drug compound in the forest. The use of the hand-held camera was effective as Will meanders through the compound.

This was a well-crafted and suspenseful film with solid cast headed by Butler. A thoughtful denouement gave shared screen time with the detective and Will Spann, who were duplicating their efforts in the cause of justice.

She needed a break, and she gets a break.

[xxxxxdarkmoon · 7/10 · 4 June 2022]

The message of the movie is: beautiful women are hard to understand at times.

The story is not spectacular, but it totally gets the job done to generate nonstop tension. There is not a single boring minute in that movie.

Good actors, and screenplay. All in all a very entertaining thriller.

Too poor copy of Kurt Russel's movie "Breakdown"

[sonerayanlar · 3/10 · 3 June 2022]

Too shame!! Well I like Gerard Buttler and also co star Jamie Alexander could have done a lot better than this too cheap movie with the scripts and scenerio and unfortunately very bad disapointing acting too. Don't waste your time.

Decent film for a quiet night

[rchevalier-37303 · 6/10 · 4 June 2022]

Gerard Butler is quite good. His real accent slips out and it makes him more real. He's also not mr super warrior which is unusual and pleasant. Jaimie Alexander is hardly in the film and that's ok because the character is tiresome. The detective is well played but the rest of the supporting cast are really just there.

Cinematography is ok. It drags at the start and so feels much longer than it actually is which is not a good thing. My biggest frustration is the colour work which is very greenish and flat. Personally I find it off putting.

I would have liked it more with different LUTS and more of Butler's actual accent.

Good tension building towards the end, worth a watch.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 26 June 2022]

I agree that this kind of stories have been done before, and better, but it was still good enough to entertain me without getting boring. It's a slow start movie but the tension builds up what keeps you interested. The end was actually the best part of the movie, when the suspense was at its highest. The acting wasn't bad at all but we've all seen better, and that was also the case with Gerard Butler who played the main character. I've seen better movies with him but overal it's a plot that suits him. Last Seen Alive is certainly worth a watch, just don't have too high of expectations.

Meh, meh, meh

[jeppepalmari · 3/10 · 6 June 2022]

Everyone needs to pay their bills, I get that. However this would've been a straight to VHS flick even in the 90's. Why do these bigger stars sign on to these?

I'm just a bit sad to see so many of these aging actors that I've truly enjoyed on the big screen now do stuff that basically could've been an above average high school project.

I enjoyed it

[rossettoart · 7/10 · 19 July 2022]

Pretty much what I imagined and hoped based on the description. Gerard shows heart and grit. . Overall worthwhile. I took the time to write this so someone gives it the chance it deserves.

Not that great

[Innacana · 2/10 · 18 June 2022]

What a stupid movie, with lots of plot holes. When your wife goes missing and police is already helping you, you don't go rambo for nothing if you are just a regular person. I find following issues with the movie:

• Why did the husband lie to the police when he was stopped for speeding? He could have just told the police that his wife is missing and he was looking
• Why did he ran off? He could have just handled it better
• Why didn't he go and tell police when he found the drug lab?

• Why didn't the bad guys eliminate him when they knew that he was looking for his wife and trailing?

• There were so many redflags for the husband, too for the kidnapping. Why didn't police checked his background?

I could list on and on but this movie is just a super waste of time and money.

Feel-good movie of the year! Gerard Butler Always Delivers

[AlienLover3000 · 7/10 · 4 June 2022]

Butler's performance is as good as his performance in Law Abiding Citizen. He gives his 100% regardless of the quality of the script.

I enjoyed every scene of him bashing bad guys to a pulp.

Overall, if you're a fan of Butler and this style of movie, then this is a must-see.

There are two things I've learned in life when it comes to kidnappings:

1. Don't mess with Liam Neeson.

2. Don't mess with Gerard Butler.

If you can remember those two universal truths, you will live a long, healthy life.

Horrible writing

[douros77 · 2/10 · 12 June 2022]

Gerard is the only reason I gave a 2. How hard and expensive would it have been for the writers to do a little research on standard LE procedure? Terrible plot and writing, subpar acting and inaccurate depiction of LE. I would've been fine never having seen this movie.

Yes, we've seen this before, but it was still edge of your seat suspense and anxiety.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 8/10 · 5 June 2022]

This film is seasoned actor Brian Goodman's third dabble in directing, and I have to say, he nailed it. The 95 min runtime and perfect pacing just made this film fly by, all the while we were on the edge of our seats. Almost forgot to breath a few times, so that to me is great directing, and of course it helped that Butler just nailed his role so well, you could feel his anxiety. Acting doesn't get much better than that folks.

Then we have a film producer, Marc Frydman, present us his second ever screenplay, and again, considering he's a newb writer, he did not disappoint. It was nothing revolutionary, but he still managed to create a suspenseful screenplay in a very overused and challenging genre.

The sound and score was perfect, as was the cinematography. The rest of the casting and performances were great, but no one could've outshined Butler's stellar performance.

I'm shocked at the low reviews and ratings from the critics. As a production, this was great. And considering this was put together by newb filmmakers, that makes it that much more impressive. I'd recommend it for sure, and would probably watch it again. It was worth the anxiety and high blood pressure, and thus a well deserved 8/10 from me.

Breakdown meets Breaking Bad

[johnmanfredi-71615 · 7/10 · 9 August 2022]

While this movie will never be an Oscar contender and Citizen Kane and Casablanca will never lose any sleep over it,I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It really kept you in suspense wondering what had happened to his wife. There was a fair amount of action in it. Someone could do worse than watching this movie. I am glad I looked in on it. Check it out.

Awful

[Mehki_Girl · 3/10 · 2 October 2022]

Awful dialog, awful "acting", especially by the parents.

The wife was unattractive and unlikable so you didn't care about her. Zero chemistry between her and Gerard.

Gerard couldn't figure out if he was using an American accent or his native one.

Dumb screenplay. Basically, I "watched" this while playing on my phone and occasionally glancing up to see some really bad acting.

The ending was just dumb and unrealistic. Our "hero" broke a ton of laws, including evading the cops, murder, and kidnapping and the cop just shrugs and says , oh well, you live by the sword, you die by the sword -like it's up to him to press charges.

No, there's an investigation and the DA decides. You don't get to take the law into your own hands

Maybe if his daughter had been taken.... Well, Gerard is not a Liam that's for sure,

Huge Respect to Mr.Butler

[umitgoren · 7/10 · 7 June 2022]

No matter what the story is if Gerard Butler in it go for it... I call this Gerard Effect... Somehow ,Mr. Butler takes you into the story with his acting and he makes you experience the movie.not only watching. You can see this effect in all Gerard movies...you live the movie... Thanks to all great actresses and actors, the crew !

You converted plain story into a great thriller.

Don't miss it ,Watch it ,!

Good action movie, rated too low here

[ccomm-76673 · 7/10 · 20 May 2023]

This is an entertaining action movie with a mystery to it that is underrated on IMDB. I am not sure why the ratings are so low, but I think they are a bit unfair at 5.6, compelling me to write in in defense of these people's work..

A couple stop at a gas station on a highway in a rural setting, and the wife suddenly disappears, but nobody saw anything.

Keeps you entertained, does not bog down or get boring, and is not wildly unrealistic, for a movie. Gerard Butler is believable as the desperate husband and Russell Hornsby is a very credible detective leading the investigation.

Worth a view if you are in the mood for this kind of a movie.