Set in New Orleans, a city currently struggling for its existence, At Last is a love story about a relationship that also struggled to exist. It is based on the true story of its husband and wife screenwriters, Tom Anton and Sandi Russell. Like their relationship, the film came close to not happening: "It was my longtime dream to make this," director Anton said, "It took 10 years to get it to the screen."

The characters, based on Anton and Russell, Mark (Martin Donovan) and Sara (Kelly Lynch), were teenagers whose close friendship was beginning to bloom into love when Mark moved away to New Orleans. Twenty-five years later, Mark spends his days working at a car dealership and coping with his children and his workaholic, hard-nosed wife, Laura (Jessica Hecht). Sara, still living in Michigan, has a troublesome spouse and a troubled teen. Mark's parents send him a box of old letters that were written just after he moved away. The letters to and from Sara, including some that he has never seen before, express a love he wasn't sure was there. Mark renews his friendship with Sara with pleasant if predictable consequences.

Kelly Lynch is expressive as Sara, conveying her changing moods from worn down by daily life with her husband and daughter, to carefree and youthful again. Martin Donovan shows a similar transformation from a man just getting through the day, existing rather than living, to a man in love. Lynch and Donovan's chemistry is convincing and pleasurable to watch.

MC Gainey personifies part of the spirit of New Orleans as Mark's brother, Earl, an artist and free-thinker. An interesting subplot involves Mark's parents' (Brooke Adams and Marco St John) relationship and their relationships with their sons. While not explored to a truly satisfying extent, the family dynamics are revelatory and add depth to the film.

Some viewers will have a problem with the fact that this love story is an adulterous one. Sara's spouse is a caricature of a bad husband and father - selfish, alcoholic, uncaring, and violent. Jessica Hecht has a bigger role as Mark's wife, Laura, but fares little better. She is shown as cold, self-involved, and, again, a bad parent. This is the film's way of getting out of the sticky problem of the events' effects on the children involved. Some people may feel that it gives short shrift to legitimate concerns.

At Last was filmed in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina struck and many locations and references now carry a layer of significance that they would not have had pre-hurricane. A scene in the Café du Mond was moving in a way that had nothing to do with the action on the screen when I saw where I sipped chicory coffee and munched beignets just two weeks before Katrina. Even though the Café has reopened, the city around it has changed drastically. Seeing it on the screen, I was struck strongly by the sense that things will never be the same. Other audience members, especially those with New Orleans connections, may have similar reactions.

At Last is an enjoyable and touching film, made more powerful because of its setting. For those who can get past concerns about adultery, the relationship portrayed in the film seems meant to be. Filming in New Orleans may also have been meant to be. According to director Anton, the filmmakers are donating part of the proceeds to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity for hurricane relief.

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