Yesterday I finished watching Last Days (imdb | rotten tomatoes), Gus Van Sant’s loose recreation of the end of Kurt Cobain’s life. And while it was loose, the recreation of Cobain himself was not. Michael Pitt’s hair, the sunglasses, the sweaters, the plaid, the torn jeans, the mumbling…it was like watching the real deal.

True to Van Sant’s recent form, there were long sustained moments of silence or inane chatter or just walking around, but some of those were beautiful. A scene where Blake builds a song from scratch while the camera crawls away gave me chills, and knowing the eventual outcome just gave me a sense of dread for the entire film. I liked it, but as with Van Sant’s other recent work (e.g., Gerry, Elephant) I’d have a hard time recommending it to someone.