" last night " could have an " aka " tagged on the end of it that says , " it's the end of the world , and we feel fine " . 
 " last night " is about just that . 
the last night of planet earth's existence . 
the world is going to end at precisely midnight , january 1st , 2000 . 
how scientists were so accurately able to predict when this catastrophic event would occur is never explained . 
nor is the event itself . 
throughout the entire movie , no explanation is given as to why this is happening . 
in doing this , mckellar ( who also wrote and directed the film ) seems to be trying to transcend the genre . 
he's attempted to make a film about people , and how each of them deals with their last night of life . 
the film contains no science fiction elements , which allows the viewer to concentrate on the feelings and actions of the characters . 
mckellar is largely successful in his attempt to rise above his material . 
the film is set in toronto , and follows several people in their various escapades on the last night of existence . 
there's mckellar , who plays a man who just wants to be alone when the moment occurs , but keeps getting interrupted by a woman ( sandra oh ) in search of her husband . 
her husband , played by david cronenberg , is spending the day working at the gas company , informing people that they will attempt to keep providing gas right up until the end . 
finally , there's mckellar's friend , played by callum keith rennie , a man who has spent his final months trying out every sexual perversion you can think of . 
mckellar has crafted a gang of the some of the most interesting characters i've seen in a film in months . 
these people all felt real to me , especially the character played by sandra oh . 
we can see her desperation , her utter need to be with her husband in the final hours . 
rennie is good , too , as the man who wants to literally try everything before he dies . 
he exudes such charm and likeablity , it's not surprising that we're rooting for him to get what he wants . 
but for me , the biggest surprise in the movie is mckellar . 
i knew that he was a talented director , but i had no idea he could act as well . 
his insistence to be alone , much to the dismay of his parents , is something that most people would find difficult to understand , but as played by mckellar , we can understand his reasons . 
he doesn't buy into the whole notion that just because everyone's going to die , he should immediately find some companionship . 
he realizes the relationship would be forced , and they would only be together for the sake of being together . 
mckellar gives a brilliant performance , and i hope he alternates between directing and acting . 
my only quibble with the film is that we never find out why the world is ending . 
i really wanted to know , and my need to know was hanging over the film at all times . 
i appreciate the fact that mckellar didn't want the material to rule the film , and that he wanted the movie to be more of a study in human behavious . 
however , in not telling the audience what the cause of earth's destruction is , he's left a big question that is in their minds throughout the film . 
another problem is we never see anybody panicking . 
i would imagine if the world was ending , and there was nothing to be done about it , a large segment of the population would be going out of their minds . 
instead , we are treated to shots of a giant crowd partying like it's new year's eve . 
i just didn't buy the fact that everyone had completely accepted their fate . 
no one had the urge to " rage against the dying of the light " . 
despite these small problems , " last night " is one of the best movies of the year . 
as opposed to the moronic " armageddon " , " last night " treats the subject at hand with maturity and believabilty . 
and bruce willis never shows up to save the day .