Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Duel:
Show up for Damon and Affleck, stay for the historical accuracy and killer duel!
Quick synopsis:
The story of the last trial by combat in France in 1386.
Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like:
Yes, this is a true story. Yes, people use to fight to the death and whoever won was innocent because God made it that way.
Fun Fact for History Nerds:
This is based upon Eric Jager’s book, and it was way more accurate than I expected for Hollywood! This is how you do it, Mel Gibson.
My Take on The Last Duel:
Let me be up front about this. I highly anticipated not liking this movie for a few reasons. First, I read the book way before the movie was even a thing. I am a snob when it comes to the book being better and I will make no apologies for it. Second, I did an email interview with Eric Jager, the author, before the movie came out. (He’s awesome, the proof is here and here.) This meant I would be preprogrammed to viscerally hate anything they did which did not align to Eric’s work.
Well, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, you two did it again. The book deviates in a few ways but nothing major from the historical record. The movie is laid out in a pretty great way considering the subject matter. It is broken up into three parts. Each part aligns to the point of view from the three main characters, Jean de Carrouges, his wife Marguerite, and Jacques Le Gris who was accused of raping Marguerite. This all leads to the eponymous “Last Duel.” I felt telling the story 3 times would get old fast, but I didn’t feel the time at all.
Ben and Matt did it again.
The book was still better, though.
Verdict:
A great movie and much more historically accurate than most. Watch it here!
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