The Last Time I Committed Suicide is a 1997 American drama film directed by Stephen T. Kay. Based on a 1950 letter written by Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac, it stars Thomas Jane as Cassady. The cast also includes Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Gretchen Mol and Claire Forlani. It received a limited release on June 20, 1997.
Production
Filming occurred in Ogden, Utah and Los Angeles, California. It was the directorial debut of New Zealand-born American filmmaker Stephen Kay, whose prior credits included small acting roles on television.
In a June 1997 interview with E!, Keanu Reeves recalled "I knew Stephen. He had written this script about Neal Cassady. I told him I dug it. 'I dug it, brother'—one of the most fun things about the piece was calling everybody 'brother.' I love that fraternity. 'Hey, brother.' 'Hey, brother, man.'—and a couple of months down the road, Stephen asked if I was interested in playing Harry."
To better suit the role of Harry, Reeves allowed his weight to balloon out to 200 pounds. Reeves appeared at his normal weight in Feeling Minnesota—released in September 1996 between Chain Reaction (August 1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997)—since it was filmed prior to Chain Reaction and the hockey injury.
Music
The score was handled by composer Tyler Bates, who later collaborated with Reeves on the John Wick franchise. On July 29, 1997, a soundtrack album was released by jazz label Blue Note Records. It included the licensed jazz songs used throughout, as well as some of the original music created for the film.
Release
After screening at the 1997 edition of the Sundance Festival in Utah, The Last Time I Committed Suicide was picked up by indie distributor Roxie Releasing. Producer Peter Locke stated in early 1997 that "this is a film that appeals to a select niche and will be review-driven." It was intended to be released earlier in June, but was pushed to later in the month, as to avoid competition with Con Air and Speed 2: Cruise Control. The rights to the film are currently held by Multicom Entertainment, who purchased the library of producer Kushner-Locke in 2013. Multicom have since released it to streaming services Amazon Prime and Tubi.
On July 6, 2021, it was released to Blu-ray for the first time by MVD Entertainment Group.
Reception
The Last Time I Committed Suicide received mixed to positive reviews upon its release. In a review published on June 20, 1997, Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised the film's cinematography, writing, "Almost every shot is drenched in rich period detail so acute it has a surreal edge. When Cassady visits an office where one of his girlfriends works as a typist, the place is a hushed dimly lit cathedral to capitalism in which elaborately coiffed secretaries sit in rigid formation behind giant manual typewriters. Later, when Cassady and some friends steal a bright red convertible for a joy ride, the image of the cherry-red car jouncing through a field with snowcapped mountains in the background has the nostalgic tug of a Saturday Evening Post cover illustration." Variety remarked that the film "works well as an evocation of the youthful unrest that would soon find cogent subcultural expression."
A critical review came from CNN's Paul Tatara, who states that the film's style "gives you a major headache." Tatara concluded by pointing out that "The degrading treatment of the women in the film is its most offensive element." However, he characterized Thomas Jane's portrayal of Cassady as "not all that distinctive", claiming that "we wouldn't have much reason to be watching this young man if his name weren't Neal Cassady." Three weeks later, Ferlinghetti responded to the program in a letter, in which he criticized the film for its "clean cut" portrayal of Cassady.
The Last Time I Committed Suicide was included in Magill's Cinema Annual 1998: A Survey of the Films of 1997, with the book stating that the film "has a beautiful and haunting look to it", and that "while not totally successful, The Last Time I Committed Suicide is nonetheless more successful at capturing the energy of the beats than previous films, such as Heart Beat (1980)." In a retrospective review, Levi Asher of Literary Kicks wrote, "As the world was waiting for Francis Ford Coppola to get busy filming his much-hyped and still-unmade version of On the Road, an unknown writer/director named Stephen Kay was quietly working on his own movie about the Neal Cassady legend. The most notable thing about it is probably the slick editing, which makes creative use of black-and-white, color, stop motion, etc., all blended into an easy-going, fast-moving, almost MTV-like whole. This film will not tax your brain."