Last chance saloon

A Feature film of

Marie-Anne Chazel

Produced by

Ouille Productions

Production year2003

French release23/06/2004

Runtime1 h 33 min

Synopsis

Kathy, Tara and Yann spent their childhood together on the island of Grois off Brittany. When 18, saturated by waves and seagulls, they came to Paris to try out their luck, vowing to never leave each other and to always lend each other a helping hand. Twelve years down the tracks, it’s time to take stock. As much as Yann is happily ensconced with his boyfriend, Alfredo, and enjoying his PR work, the girls, like many thirty-year-old women, have disastrous love lives.
Cheerful, but lacking in confidence, Tara dedicates herself body and soul to Thomas, an egocentric and mean teacher. She compensates for her maternal, professional and personal frustrations by overeating. Kathy, an accountant, is secretive and has been nicknamed Lady Frozen Foods by her workmates at the communications agency where she works. She lives alone and is proud of it, keeping men at a distance. This includes Romain, a young project manager who is fascinated by her biting sense of humor and beauty. The trio’s ironic, carefree attitude to life suddenly takes a serious turn when Yann falls ill. At first they think he has AIDS, but it is in fact cancer.
Yann’s very pious mother, Jeanne-Marie, accompanied by her two other sons, Gwenn and Loic, immediately arrives from the island to take care of her Yann, only to discover his private life. Yann’s illness makes him aware of the fragility of existence, and he forces Kathy and Tara to keep their promise to always give help each other. Tara must dump horrible Thomas, because it’s only without him that she’ll spread her wings (and lose weight!). Kathy must finally let herself love a man. Why not Romain, who she has unjustly accused of sexual harassment? If they don’t keep their word, Thomas threatens to die, just to annoy them off.
They can’t believe their friend’s demands and are very irritated by them at first. But little by little the girls join in a game that will transform their lives. Despite her tendency to put a wall between herself and others, Kathy discovers the wonders of love shared with a man. Tara has difficulty getting rid of horrible Thomas… and immediately moves in with Kathy. Her depression and boxes cluttering up the apartment don’t make things easy for Romain. After some difficult moments with Alfredo and the rest of the gang, Yann gently rediscovers his sense of humor and recovers his health. It would appear that keeping the promise works. But an unexpected event throws everything into question again. Léo, an attractive, failed actor from Kathy’s past, disrupts the fragile happiness established with Romain. The years Kathy has lived by herself have reinforced her friendship with Tara. Thanks to the lucid bond between them, she eventually confides the secret that has haunted her since adolescence. She then gets rid of Léo and returns to Romain. As in all comedies, even slightly dramatic ones, the story comes to a happy end on the ship that takes everyone back to Groix for Christmas.