The Last Thing He Wanted

Considering its volatile sociopolitical landscape that includes a cynical view of Reagan-era foreign policy, The Last Thing He Wanted never resonates as it should.

This muddled thriller from director Dee Rees (Mudbound), adapted from a Joan Didion novel, mostly squanders its intriguing true-life backdrop with characters who didn’t translate successfully from page to screen.

It takes place in 1984, when Elena (Anne Hathaway) is a political reporter for the fictional Atlantic Post who has gained a reputation for asking tough questions in Washington. She and a colleague (Rosie Perez) attempt to press the Reagan administration on arms trading with Nicaraguan rebels during a re-election bid, but they’re effectively stonewalled both by an unofficial government spokesman (Ben Affleck) and her own bosses.

Frustrated, she retreats to Florida, where her alcoholic father (Willem Dafoe) is ill and needs her help. He’s in line for a big payday of his own in Latin America, if only Elena can close the deal on some military gear with some shady operatives. When complications ensue, she becomes stranded amid the story she tried to cover.

An ambitious change of pace both for Hathaway and Rees, the film struggles to condense the sprawling context of Didion’s source material into a coherent storyline. Various subplots aren’t given time to unfold by the uneven screenplay, and periphery themes are surveyed with only half-hearted sincerity.

Even if Elena’s perilous journey isn’t explored with sufficient depth or complexity, you can admire the tenacity of an opportunistic vigilante journalist of sorts who navigates a ruthless collection of rogues and scoundrels, enduring a frustrating pattern of dead ends and bureaucratic runarounds in search of the truth. Plus, bonus points for affectionately depicting the days of chaotic newsrooms accompanied by a symphony of phones ringing and typewriters crackling.

Elena makes for a strong-minded heroine despite the ensuing surreal downward spiral. Still, the character inadvertently feels familiar, especially for those who saw Tom Cruise infiltrate the Contras and cartels in the recent thriller American Made, or the investigative digging into government misdeeds in Spielberg’s The Post.

As it stumbles through a series of unconvincing melodramatic twists in the final act, The Last Thing He Wanted only occasionally gets the narrative blood boiling, and too often lacks the urgency its story requires.

Rated R, 115 minutes.