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Last Chance Harvey: Drama. Written and directed by Joel Hopkins. Starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. (PG-13. 92 minutes. At Bay Area theaters. For complete movie listings and show times, and to buy tickets for select theaters, go to sfgate.com/movies.)

 This is somebody’s idea of a lovely, feeling-filled movie, the story of a man who has blown all his chances at love and human connection, who somehow, when he least expects it, finds that special someone, etc. But can we just put down our handkerchiefs and back up a minute? Instead of viewing “Last Chance Harvey” through the eyes of its hero – that is, Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) – let’s take a cold look at it through the eyes of Kate, who is played by Emma Thompson.

Last Chance Harvey has so established that these two are adorable sad sacks in need of a tender hookup that we’re ready to wrap them in a hearty, patronizing hug. Not so fast: Their awkwardly impromptu pickup scene isn’t pathetic, it’s edgy and funny and terse, crackling with the sound of defense mechanisms slowly being lowered. Last Chance Harvey is a losers-in-love comedy with no big surprises, but in the age of Internet dating, the prospect of two strangers trying this valiantly to connect in public carries a dash of romantic heroism.

As the two traipse around London, getting to know each other like a couple of old-fashioned shy college kids, they make little in the way of grand gestures. Thompson, easing up on her starched wittiness, comes off as younger, in spirit, than she did 15 years ago; her Kate has a fragile sensuality encased in a perfectionism that’s really fear. And Hoffman gives a shrewdly direct performance as a mensch suddenly
 liberated from behaving himself. These two deserved the intimate incandescence of their own Before Sunrise, rather than the slightly generic sentimentality of a cross-Atlantic Marty. But Hoffman and Thompson are each good enough to bring out a glow in the other

In the meantime we’re also spending time with Kate (Thompson), who spends much of her life fielding phone calls from her loony mother, who’s convinced her neighbor is a serial killer. As Harvey suffers through the rehearsal dinner, Kate bumbles through a blind date set up by a co-worker at the airport census office. The date goes badly, of course, so when Kate runs into Harvey in the airport bar the next day, they both have something to complain about.

Harvey’s flight is delayed until the next day, Kate helps him find a hotel, he accompanies her to her writing class, and gradually these two middle-agers have the kind of whirlwind, up-all-night romance more familiar to teenagers. The night is mostly devoted to helping Harvey work things out, as the new couple attends the wedding reception after all and harvey gets to make the father toast. Kate, despite both Thompson’s and writer-director Joel Hopkins’ efforts to make her a well-developed character, unfortunately falls into the “supportive female” stock character trap.

When the sun comes up there are obvious obstacles Kate and Harvey need to deal with– the distance between New York and London being just one of them– but Hopkins instead throws in an emergency room visit to create third-act drama. It doesn’t necessarily betray the movie’s emotional honesty up to that point, but it is a fairly cheap trick for what’s otherwise a mature and low-key film.

As the central character who goes through the movie’s main arc, Hoffman is a bit of a letdown. He’s good as Harvey the beaten-down schlub, as well as Harvey in the flush of new romance, but the transition between the two doesn’t exist. Thompson is empathetic and lovely, as ever, but she’s not helped by the script or her hammy co-star. Last Chance Harvey offers many pleasures that may be overshadowed by the high expectations that come with a December 26 release date. It’s a shame, but this is the kind of movie probably destined to perform better on DVD anyway.

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