The legendary Shirley MacLaine stars in a charming but flawed "The Last Word".

It's great to see Shirley MacLaine still scoring lead roles at 82, but "The Last Word" could have been an even better vehicle for her than it is. The story of a cranky senior citizen worried about her legacy and working with the local newspaper's obituary writer (Amanda Seyfried) to improve it has many charms, but the script misses the potential to be so much more unique. Her character's sterling ad career isn't explored deeply enough, considering that is where most of her legacy would be, nor is her estranged relationship with an adult daughter given its due. Instead the story settles for clichéd road trips, hip old granny jokes, and questionable "white savior" themes. Surely, the words of this script could've done more for such a legendary actress.