DVD Review: The Last Confederate
The Last Confederate (2007)–***
DVD Review
Genealogical research is a hot hobby these days. But while some people spend their time at their local history centers looking through old public records, others like the people behind The Last Confederate are putting their family history on film for the world to see.
There is a difference between family research and family legend. Genealogical explorations can wipe out romantic notions of runaway romances with a simple look at a marriage certificate and a birth record. The Last Confederate is a prime example of what people with deep, rich family histories can do when they stick to those old family legends.
Robert Adams (Julian Adams) isn’t someone you will find in the history books (or at least, not on Wiki). This South Carolinian turned Confederate officer is known, at least to his family, as a man who loved his country and loved his wife-to-be, Eveline (Gwendolyn Edwards). As Adams rattles the sabers ahead of the Civil War, he also romances Evelyn, promising to build the intelligent, sophisticated young woman a school in his Carolina homeland.
Even though Eveline is a northerner who doesn’t share the allegiance to the South or its customs, her love for Robert grows when they are separated by war. All she can do is long for Robert to return alive.
Thankfully for the people behind The Last Confederate, Edwards is good at longing. The film itself is a competent, but not stellar low-budget Civil War feature. It often has more in common visually with Hallmark Channel movies than it does Cold Mountain, but what it lacks in style it gains in performance and passion.
Edwards, who should never have been cast in the film based on her very contemporary looks, pulls through as the only actor in the feature who can deliver the period dialogue and not sound tripped-up. That confidence in her delivery allows her to find the more subtle nuances to her character, be it as a lover or liberal northerner confronting the ideals of Southern propriety.
Julian Adams, who wrote, produced and co-directed the film, is a weak link in the acting chain. (Adams is just one of a few descendents of the real Robert Adams who made this film). He should have serious moments where he must confront the values of the South or pine for his lost love, but like the film he directs, he doesn’t push the envelope to find the greatness.
Despite its flaws, The Last Confederate is better than most Civil War pictures. It’s hard to produce a feature that isn’t immediately measured against reenactments. Even the epic Gettysburg falls victim to such comparisons. Because it is more a period romance than a war film and only briefly shows a front lines battle, the film allows us to appreciate the story a little more. With any luck, a more visionary filmmaker will see this DVD and want to tell the tale of Robert and Eveline . For their descendants, a Hollywood feature would be an even more fitting tribute to the family legend.
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