Last Call for Istanbul Review: NYC Can’t Make It Spicy
Who in their right mind in the 2020s leaves their cellphone in their checked-in bag for a long international flight? In fact, most airlines don’t even allow passengers to pack active cellphones in checked-in bags. But that’s the basic premise of the Turkish 2023 romantic flick “Last Call for Istanbul,” where a woman’s bag gets swapped with someone else’s after she gets off at New York airport, and a stranger who was on the same flight helps her out. “I am ruined, my phone and purse were in that suitcase,” the pretty lady tells the man. And you wonder what’s in the giant big purse around her arms?
Directed by Gonenc Uyanik and written by Nuran Evren Sit, “Last Call for Istanbul” (Original title: Istanbul Için Son Çagri) starts off dumb and gets only marginally better after the ridiculous opening scene. Kivanç Tatlitug plays Mehmet, the knight in shining armour to Serin (Beren Saat), who is visiting New York for work. While they manage to find the man who took Serin’s suitcase, he is only able to return it the next morning, so Mehmet & Serin decide to have a fun night together in NYC, do things they cannot do in Turkey and bid each other farewell the next day. But as sparks fly between the two, will they really parts way the next day?
While both lead actors are great-looking, they have very little chemistry, so that already dilutes the charm of this supposed romantic-comedy. There are some minor things Mehmet does or says which are akin to micro-aggressions and there’s a twist in the second-half that explains why he behaves the way he does, but that won’t wash away the unease some viewers might develop about his character. For example, he gets visibly upset & questions Serin, when she decides to take part in a raunchy contest at a bar. What is his problem if the stranger woman he met few hours ago is having the time of her life?
“Last Call for Istanbul” is filled with lengthy and dull conversations between the lead actors. In between, they attempt to inject some fun, but it proves barely entertaining for viewers. Suddenly, in the second half, the movie takes a serious turn into a sob story about a failing relationship. However, like most modern romances, a therapist unrealistically comes to the rescue, and years worth of resentment magically vanish, like Cinderella’s raggedy dress disappears with the flick of a fairy godmother’s wand.
The climax is painfully cliched, but with a title like “Last Call for Istanbul”, it seemed obvious that the makers would go for the “rush to the airport in the last minute to confess your love” scene. They could’ve avoided it, but they did not. Unless you are a big fan of lead actors Kivanç Tatlitug and Beren Saat, this isn’t the kind of love story that would hit a chord with romance fans.
Rating: 4 on 10. You can watch the film on Netflix.
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