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." He also criticized Reeves' performance, stating that the actor is "void of talent" and "reciting his lines as if they're non-related words strung together as a memory exercise." Tatara concluded by pointing out that "The degrading treatment of the women in the film is its most offensive element." Kevin Thomas from the Los Angeles Times had a more positive view on Reeves' role in the film, writing that it "leaves you with a feeling of real respect for Reeves for showing up in this modestly budgeted film instead of Speed 2." 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." On a June 28, 1997 episode of Siskel and Ebert, The Last Time I Committed Suicide received a thumbs up from Gene Siskel and a thumbs down from Roger Ebert. Ebert stated that beat writer Lawrence Ferlinghetti, still alive, would have laughed at it. Three weeks later, Ferlinghetti responded to the program in a letter, in which he criticized the film for its "clean cut" portrayal of Cassady. 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." References External links 1997 films 1997 directorial debut films 1997 drama films 1997 independent films American independent films American nonlinear narrative films Films set in 1946 Films about suicide Films about the Beat Generation Films scored by Tyler Bates Films shot in Utah The Kushner-Locke Company films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Stephen Kay 1990s American films