The Last Run

Syndicate wheelman Harry Garmes (George C. Scott) comes out of a nine year retirement to do one last job that involves ferrying escaped con Paul (Tony Musante) and his girl Claudie (Trish Van Devere) over the French border. Naturally, things do go as planned as their rendezvous is a set-up to kill the duo and Harry takes action. If you like the misanthropy on display in other early 70s Scott flicks like RAGE (1972) and THE NEW CENTURIONS (1972), than this is for you. This is a great little action flick that is really working on two levels, kinda like the same year's VANISHING POINT (what a great time for fans of esoteric action!). Garmes laments about the enemy of time and the car he so meticulously takes care of becomes a symbol of the man himself as it slowly starts to wear down over this tough journey. Apparently Scott feuded so much with original helmer John Huston that he quit and was replaced by Richard Fleisher. Fleisher uses the beautiful mountain roads of Spain to stage some great car chases, all set to a fantastic score by Jerry Goldsmith.

This film almost should have been in black and white! Very solid throwback to the gritty film-noir gangster films of the 40's. The ever brilliant George C. Scott tackle's the Bogartesque protagonist with style - a retired gangland getaway-driver lured out of retirement by personal reasons for one 'Last Run' in Spain in which he has to transport a escaped killer and his moll across the border to France.

Of course nothing ever goes quite as planned and Scott soon find's his assignment calling for him to make some tough choices in the face of mounting odd's and hidden dangers. This film benefits from it's strong cast, fantastic camera-work by the great Sven Nykvist(Bergmann films), great location scenery in Spain and an economical screenplay from the talented Alan Sharp(Night Moves). Underrated director Richard Fleischer gives the film a great Hemingway type atmosphere and does a good job with the action scenes. Interestingly John Huston started this film and left after three weeks into the production following rows with Scott, Sharp and the producers over wanting to have the script re-written by his eighteen year old son! Overall this is a good solid thriller that works and is waiting to be rediscovered.

George C Scott plays Harry Garmes, a former getaway driver who comes out of retirement to prove to himself he hasn't lost his touch. He lives in a small Portugese fishing village, but he isn't fulfilled; he views retirement as preparation for death and goes behind the wheel again to inject some vitality into his existence. What promises to be a straightforward job, however, brings him unexpected challenges. The film boasts suspenseful car chases, impressive cinematography, a good script and a compelling performance from George C Scott as the cynical driver who gets more than he bargains for as he chauffeurs an escaped prisoner and his girlfriend across country. The film is thought-provoking, it deals with love, death, regret, frustration and determination, and coupled with tension and suspense makes it a memorable ride.

Other viewers' comments, both negative and positive, have aptly classified this film's genre. Those with inclination toward existentialist thought (e.g., why are we here and what are the best options before embracing the void?) generally like it. I think the film great and wish it were available on DVD. Others find it vapid. Yet I think the theme similar to that found in Blade Runner or Pierrot le Fou - though different from, say, Kafka's Metamophosis, or The Trial, or from Camus' The Stranger, etc., in that this film's protagonist undergoes emotional development - along with another character who fears her fate and sees no other path to follow.

Our protagonist's past life as an underworld character is significant not in the cops-and-robbers sense, but rather as an earmark of his "loner" personality - like Camus' Stranger. He's a retired individualist - like Blade Runner's Deckard - who after a career on the "outside" is sucked against his will into a melee of action and intrigue. All he'd longed for was to finish out his days in peace - in Portugal - though one can wonder if his automotive hobby (his surrogate child) and petty daily ritual could really have sustained him - yet such is the trap some see themselves born into; perhaps an earlier, unexpected coup de grace isn't to be under-appreciated.

The plot is simple: an aging criminal getaway driver stumbles out of semi-retirement for one last job and ends up getting more than he bargained for. It's the stuff film noir writers have dreamed up for years. But in Richard Fleischer's "The Last Run", released in 1971 and starring George C. Scott, it feels refreshingly original and brash.

A troubled production from the start, "The Last Run" barreled through several directors (including John Huston) before Fleischer came on board. It probably wouldn't have been quite as successful without the star status of Scott... an interestingly low budget choice for an actor spring boarding off his home run performance in the blockbuster "Patton" a year earlier. And it is Scott who gives the film its grizzled pessimism... portraying his character Harry Garmes as a guy who understands the consequences of a lifetime on the fringes. He doesn't wink at the audience and for that, "The Last Run" is a seriously overlooked film that ranks with "The Outfit" and "Prime Cut" as three no-nonsense early 70's examples of the crime picture done amazingly right.