Originally published in the UCD College Tribune, 2001

Ray, Vic, Larry and Vince drive to Margate to honour their friend Jack’s last request; scatter his ashes from the end of the pier. During the trip, Jack’s colourful life is re-lived through the memories of those he loved. This is a touching tale of the unique impact one person can have on many lives.

As ensemble casts go, Last Orders does not have the superstar status of Oceans Eleven, nor is it as young and sexy as American Pie, but it is the original Brit Pack. Hoskins and Mirren are re-united for the first time since the Long Good Friday, with Caine and Hoskins sharing the screen again 15 years after Mona Lisa, and they are a delight to watch.

The film captures the sense of the English working class, post-war generation. The characters have good solid jobs (undertaker, butcher, fruiterer) and sensible names (Jack, Larry, Vic), and a retirement home in Margate is to them what a villa in Spain is to the Ibiza generation. Writer-director Fred Schpepsi also highlights the fact that decisions that we make (or don’t make) help mould us into the people we are today.

Adapted from Graham Swift’s Booker Prize winning novel of the same name, Last Orders allows its cast to shine alone and as a group. Michael Caine is utterly charming as Jack, Helen Mirren touches the heart as Amy, David Hemmings shimmers as the scamp, Larry and Tom Courtenay is wonderfully understated as the undertaker Vince. When united, the characters allow each other to express the tension between inner desires and outer friendship and loyalty.

Take this opportunity to watch some of Britain’s finest acting talent together on screen for the first time in years.