Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) have been live-in lovers for years. When they announce to her parents that they are expecting a child, Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) doesn't quite know how she feels about the prospect of being a grandmother. She is worried about the wrinkles on her face and the emptiness of her marriage to Emilio (Luigi Diberti), a psychiatrist.
Carlo is actually quite anxious about the major changes that are about to take place in his relationship with Giulia. It doesn't help matters that his best friends are a group of young college boys who don't want to grow up. Paolo (Claudio Santamaria) dreads the prospect of being incarcerated in the family business. Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) wants to walk out on his wife and young child because the passion has gone out of his life. And Alberto (Marco Cocci) enjoys his role as a Lothario who has sex with many women. At a wedding, Carlo is smitten by Francesca ((Martina Stella), an 18-year old virgin who is very attracted to him. They meet secretly and forge an erotic bond that intensifies. Meanwhile, Carlo's mother-in-law Anna tries to connect with an old flame but is sadly cast aside by him.
Gabriele Muccino directs this Italian romantic comedy that probes in a light-hearted way the romantic problems of individuals in love relationships that aren't satisfying. For all of them the yearning for passion spells discontent. This dilemma of high expectations and inevitable disappointment cuts across the generations. Add to that the presentation of the Peter Pan syndrome in men and the challenges of aging for women and you have the central themes of The Last Kiss. One of the bittersweet notes in this drama is the sense one takes away from spending time with these unhappy individuals that they will never be content with what they have.
