NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” star Jim O’Heir had quite the shock upon arriving in Fort Worth to work on director Rob Smat’s new film, “The Last Whistle.” O’Heir had just been dropped off at the Stockyards Hyatt when he saw something trotting along Rodeo Plaza.
"This city is something else, Rob,” O’Heir said to Smat. “I kid you not: There were horses out front. Horses!"
That “something else” is the magic that lends itself to the aesthetic of “The Last Whistle.” The motion picture, which was filmed in Fort Worth, hits theatres in Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and New York on June 28. Venues such as the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Tommy's Hamburgers, and the home of Coach Vick (the film’s main character) in White Settlement help decorate Smat’s work.
At the January Best of Fests screening of “The Last Whistle” in Dallas, Lone Star Film Society asked whether an increased movie budget of $5 million would have kept the film in Fort Worth. “I had to tell him, ‘yes,’” Smat says. “‘The Last Whistle’ is, and always was, a movie for Fort Worth.”
You’d be correct calling this a semi-Western of a film, according to Smat. A Western and a sports movie rolled into one, Smat calls his final script a marriage of “Friday Night Lights” and “High Noon.” The subject matter of the film involves the sudden cardiac arrest of a team favorite.
Smat drew from his own personal experiences playing football at All Saints' Episcopal School in Fort Worth, though he never saw a teammate succumb to an accident. He says medical precautions were a priority for the team, and he was fortunate enough to reap the benefits of that proaction.
Surrounding programs weren't as fortunate.
Dollars for an extensive training staff just weren’t there, he says, and he saw accidents happen in sports all the time.
“That fear was always with me,” Smat says. “When it came time to write this script, I let that fear take the wheel, and when I saw the positive change it could bring, I determined that would be the fulcrum of the film.”
“The Last Whistle” is also available for viewing June 28 on several digital platforms, including iTunes and Amazon.
