The Last Shift
This indie film is worthwhile watching despite some occasionally muddled themes. I appreciated that this movie didn't neatly resolve everything like an old episode of Scooby Doo or one of those ABC Afternoon Specials. Life is not like that.

This film is set in Albion, Michigan. Stanley (Richard Jenkins) is the night manager of an Albion location of a regional fast food franchise. In what could be a nod to co-actor Ed O'Neill's role of Al Bundy, Stanley took this job more or less right out of high school and has remained there for the next forty years or so, give or take. Starting at just over $3/hr back in the day, Stanley has managed to grow his salary to the princely rate of just over $13/hr. Real ambitious hard charging dude, Stanley is. Not. Stanley is ready to retire and move to Florida to take care of his sickly mother. But in order to get his last check and possible retirement bonus Stanley must train his replacement, Jevon (Shane Paul McGhie). Jevon must succeed at this job or else.

Over the next three days the two men may learn something from and about each other. Or they may not. These are not larger than life characters. Their differences in age, race, and politics are never far from the surface. They both sneer at and sympathize with each other. This movie finds some humor in fast food situations and for that matter aging, but it's not a comedy. Don't expect consistent laughs. This film could have said more about race, class, capitalism, and opportunity but at crucial points much like Stanley it throws up its hands and grimaces.


"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungleā€”as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.