Imagine if the Kardashians were an incestuous family willing to take one another down out of greed. OK, maybe that’s not hard to imagine, but your imagination isn’t as crazy as Bruce Bellocchi’s feature film Last Man Standing, where two generations of Montgomerys fight for a massive inheritance.
On Alabama’s Gulf Coast, the Montgomerys have money, and lots of it. But the family’s patriarch (Buzz Van Dyke) and matriarch (Jann Van Dyke) are terminally ill and done waiting for the inevitable. One day, they walk out onto their private dock and carry out a suicide pact. They leave behind an estate worth millions and an airtight will stating their money and company shares can go only to blood relatives.
Two sisters are first in line to inherit the Montgomery fortune. Ann Montgomery (Jennifer Noel) is the naive younger one. She has her husband, Thomas Castro (Carlo Mendez), and their entitled children, Daniel (Nicholas Rubertone), Ashley (Avaryana Rose), and Dana (Caitlin Kirkel). Her parents thought Thomas married Ann for her money, so they added the blood-relative qualification. Then there is Mary (Marisol Ray), the calculating older sister, with her lazy husband, Dean Weinstein (Seth Harris Gordon), and her devoted son, Josh (Tristan Green). The faithful family attorney, Walter Black (Eric Roberts), handles the Montgomerys’ affairs. He tells the family the estate will be divided among all living blood relatives, and if one dies, their share is redistributed. The caveat is that not a single penny goes to anyone who isn’t a blood relative.
After a heated discussion, husbands Dean and Thomas fight one another on the dock, where both men wind up dead. This exchange starts a steady stream of heirs dying, potentially leaving the entire estate to the “last man standing.”
Mary Montgomery listens quietly in a dimly lit room in Last Man Standing.
“They leave behind an estate worth millions and an airtight will stating their money and company shares can go only to blood relatives.”
What I like about Last Man Standing is the good old battle between warring siblings…like the aforementioned Kardashians. On one side is Ann, who can’t help but let the men in her life take advantage of her. Mary, on the other hand, is overly protective of the family fortune and doesn’t want it falling into the hands of any outsider Ann decides to marry. After Dean’s death, Ann’s high school flame, Detective Peter Grommet (BoJesse Christopher), inserts himself into the family and its fortune while also investigating the death of the Montgomery parents. Then you have the kids, basically a representation of Gen Z—some of the best examples, but mostly the worst. Dangle greed, financial security, and a lavish lifestyle in front of them, and watch each kid make bad choices.
As for production, Last Man Standing is a nice little indie thriller. You can tell the movie was made on a shoestring budget, but writer-director Bruce Bellocchi uses what he has to make a solid-looking film. I like that it was shot on an iPhone, proving that if you’ve got a story to tell, there’s no excuse not to. Shooting at a single location keeps things simple, but you usually don’t get good, consistent sound in movies like this. Not here. I’m very impressed with the production alone.
I think the actors understood their roles and had fun. It may not be the most original story, but it’s well told, which is enough, especially for indie filmmaking. Overall, Last Man Standing is a very solid guerrilla B-movie indie film.
For screening information, visit the Last Man Standing official website.
"…Imagine if the Kardashians were an incestuous family…"
