So I was watching "Waitress" again and damn if that movie isn't charming as hell. I enjoyed it just as much as when it caught me by surprise in the theater not too long ago. It is so sweet, but not overly sappy and tells such a nice little story. The performances, each and every one were perfect and I really believe ABC's "Pushing Daisies" is somewhat intertwined and not just because of the pie making similarities. Such a refreshing change of pace to what is usually out there, not that there isn't some great fare, but this ones was just small and charming.

Of course, it was Adrienne Shelley's last effort and it is too bad because if she was able to do more, damned if I wasn't going to be first in line. So senseless how some of these things happen in life and her family was just beautiful, especially her little girl. She was truly talented and hearing the little memorial to her on the DVD extras she really was genuine.

A great and sad way to end a career that was probably just about to get started.

Some stars and directors haven't always had success in their last roles, either cut short tragically or purposefully going out. The great Raul Julia always springs to my mind as "Street Fighter" was his last credited role, unfortunatley. And Stanley Kubrick's, I think, unofficial/official last project was the pretty dismal "A.I.". Steven Spielberg took over the directing duties, but wasn't able to save it. Even if you go back one before with "Eyes Wide Shut", i think you would have a hard time convincing me that this one was any good.

So who do you think had the best last effort and who had the worst last effort?

I would actually say Kubrick had one of the best last efforts in Eyes Wide Shut. I like EWS more than 2001, Full Metal Jacket, or Paths of Glory and think Eyes Wide Shut is a very watchable film.
As for worst last actor effort it's temporarily Warren Beatty for Town and Country. WHo knows if he'll ever make another movie.

Henry Fonda in "On Golden Pond" for best last movie by an actor. Awesome movie to end a career and life.

For worst, I'd Say John Candy in Canadian Bacon. Candy is my favorite actor ever, but that movie was horrible.

Wagons East was actually John Candy's final film. He died while filming it. Wagons East was also far worse than Canadian Bacon. I loved John Candy, but he definitely put out some pretty big turds in his final years.

Similarly, Chris Farley. His last starring Role was In Almost Heroes which sucked.

best - Brandon Lee in The Crow
worst - Martin Brest directing Gigli. Okay, he's not dead, but is there any coming back from that?

John Huston's "The Dead." Talk about going out on a high note.

I'm going to 2nd Raul Julia. Hopefully one day I can convince myself that "Street Fighter" never happened and that Gomez Addams was his final role.

I agree. I think that EWS is a masterpiece & one of Kubrick's best films.

I can't really think of any directors whose final work was one of their best like Stanley Kubrick.

Yes Kubrick went out well. And I'm including A.I in that. I imagine he would've been very proud of it.

Worst: Marilyn Monroe AND Clark Gable -- The Misfits

Not the best, but worth noting: Oliver Reed in Gladiator. Not a great movie, but he was great in the role (especially after a string of terrible choices up to that point).

Bunuel's "That Obscure Object of Desire" deserves mention for one of the best last films of a director's career.

That was also my first thought. Although if his last film had been Prizzi's Honor, that would have been a nice capstone too.

(and his first was The Maltese Falcon -- what a great career!)

Boris Karloff. The Fear Chamber.

Awful movie. Mrs Danger likes bad movies, but that one was such a dud that she sold it.

He could stand, but he couldn't walk, so they would pan over to him as if he'd just entered. It was kind of sad to watch.

Bela Lugosi, Plan 9 from Outer Space. Kind of qualifies on both counts.

And I will add:

Andrei Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice
Robert Bresson's L'Argent
Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan The Terrible Part II
Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salo

Richard Jordan in Gettysburg. His performance was so overcooked it made your typical Shatner performance seem restrained by comparison.

Another on the worst pile: Steve McQueen's last film The Hunter - just such a bad movie for such a legendary actor to end his career on.

Anthony Quinn's last movie was Avenging Angelo, a straight-to-video Stallone flick. Ugh.

James Dean's last film was Giant -my favorite James Dean movie, easily his best performance.

AND Montgomery Clift

I don't think it's a bad film but I'm suprised no one has said 'Orson Wells - Transformers' yet.

That was not Clift's last film.