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Romantic drama stars Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet

BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

MOVIE REVIEW

A high-powered cast makes what it can of a high-concept story in the romantic drama "Last Night."

There's no false advertising about the directorial debut of Iranian-American screenwriter Massy Tadjedin, that title says it all. The movie covers about 40 hours in the life of an attractive, well-off, white New York couple.

"Last Night" is one of the business success stories from this year's Tribeca Film Festival, as Miramax and Tribeca Film reached a deal to release it in selected theaters and to on-demand systems.

Joanna Reed (Keira Knightley) is a writer settling for uninteresting small assignments while struggling with her next novel. No worries, though, for husband Michael (Sam Worthington) is doing well enough in the corporate world to keep them in a well-appointed Tribeca loft.

They go out to a party with Michael's business associates, and he introduces his wife to Laura, "our new designer." She's played by sexy Eva Mendes, who provides a quick correction. She's already been here three months and worked with Michael on that San Diego project, remember?

Joanna spends the rest of the evening watching her husband and Laura check each other out. Back home, Michael assures his wife there couldn't possibly be anything going on. Certainly tomorrow's overnight trip to Philadelphia is nothing for her to worry about. Laura is just part of the team.

Of course, teams have players. There are also free agents. After Michael takes off on his trip the next morning, Joanna runs into old flame Alex, played with slightly scruffy savoir faire by Guillaume Canet. For her, it's a surprise, but for Alex the encounter is not spontaneous.

So while Michael, Laura and company are entertaining clients at a business dinner in Philadelphia, Joanna and Alex are out with his mentor, played by Griffin Dunne and saddled with the name Truman, and partner Sandra (Stephanie Romanov).

A handful of other characters wander through the movie, and Truman and Sandra are pleasant company. The movie does not belabor it's nicely observed fact that the quartet of New Yorkers at its heart are all from elsewhere.

Tadjedin was fortunate and astute in her casting. She became friends with Knightley while working on the offbeat time-travel picture "The Jacket," and got Worthington after he made "Avatar" but before it was released.

While Knightley is normally pretty enough that she is expected to get the guy, the sultry Mendes has more than sufficient firepower to turn Laura into a rival, even just an imaginary one.