The Last of the Finest

Outstanding acting from Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton vaults this vigilante cop film into way above average territory. While character development is good for the good guys, it is rather skimpy when it comes to the villains. This does not detract enough to spoil the fun however. There is nice chemistry between the rogue cops, and the script though derivative is totally acceptable. It's rare to get the kind of likable performances delivered in "The Last of the Finest" from all four leads. Special mention must be made of the stunt work, because it's good, and the movie has some very unusual and exciting parts. This is a real surprise, and fans of the actors will not be disappointed. - MERK

The Last of the Finest, also released as Street Legal, is a fair action film from 1990, starring Brian Dennehy as Officer Frank Daly of the LAPD, and he and his fellow officers (Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey and Bill Paxton) are up aganist a drug operaton headed by a US Government agent (Guy Boyd). After the investigation grows cold, Daly is forced to turn in his badge, but he takes matters into his own hands and also doesn't realize that his former police captain (Henry Darrow) is also apart of the operation. After Bill Paxton's character is killed, Daly does what any honest cop would, to bring justice back, or let the Government get away with the crime. Director John MacKenzie tries to build up a good cop story, but seems to rely mostly on tongue in check, not to mention some slow moving scenes, without action or adventure. However the ending showdown on a Los Angeles football field was pretty good, the helicopter crash looked rather authentic. But like most early 90's action films, The Last of the Finest is an average film most of us have probably seen.

My review was written in March 1990 after a Greenwich Village screening.

The Iran-contra affair becomes the plot device for a farfetched and preachy co film offering Brian Dennehy an interesting star turn. Commercial prospects are bleak for this oddball Orion message picture.

Originally titled "Street Legal", "The Last of the Finest" belongs in a rarely attempted brand of pastiche film, last seen in the Watergate comedy "Nasty Habits" in which nuns led by Glenda Jackson and Geraldine Page portrayed thinly disguised members of the Nixon administration.

"Finest" is less interesting because it's one step removed. The central characters are Dennehy and his band of dedicated cops who tumble upon a bunch of corrupt characters (who parallel the Iran-contra protagonists) while working on a drug bust.

Like characters for a Don Siegel action pic (especially "Charley Varrick"), Dennehy and his loyal men Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey and Bill Paxton bristle at L. A. P. D. rules and are suspended when their task force becomes overly zealous in its fight against drug trafficking. Audience immediately tumbles to the fact that higher-ups are blocking their noble cause: it's a combination of police brass and feds, working on an elaborate scheme to trade drugs for arms to supply Central American freedom fighters.

In pic's silliest plot twist, Dennehy and company too easily rip off minor drug dealers to finance their own purchase of heavy weapons to stage a three-man war against the baddies (one of Dennehy's merry men is murdered early on, as a corny motivational device). Their victory against tall odds is phony and the film's symbolism goes over the top in a climax of the drug money exploding in its cesspool hideaway, covering the baddies in excrement.

Despite the deficiencies of a script that unwisely mixes tongue-in-cheek elements with soapbox messages, Scottish director John Mackenzie keeps the pic moving and enjoyable on a strictly thriller level. Its unsubtle references to Iran-contra are more fun for film historians than action fans, leading to an ending on tv identical in purpose to the rabble-rousing conclusion of Alex Cox' similarly preachy "Walker".

Dennehy is excellent in delivering a liberal message in the form of a free-thinking independent who's tired of the expediency and greed of a system riddled with phony patriots. Guy Boyd ably leads the gang of Machiavellian villains and Aussie thesp Deborra-Lee Furness makes a good impression as Dennehy's wife.

Former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor adds punch with his guitar solos.

This is a radical change from the movies of today that MUST have an X rated scene, lots of noise, lots of face to face rhetoric that means nothing, and who could miss the windshield that doesn't leak with 6 bullet holes.

I had viewed it many years ago, but just last week found a VHS, which really shows the changes in the movie industry. For one thing, there was no shot thru the heart and lives scenes. True, some risky theatrics with dangerous people, but not like a Harrison Ford/James Bond film bordering on Science Fiction.

They selected a group of actors for everyday-like people of lean means, who are proud to be honest.

The plot is totally believable in today's major crime activities. And it has a believable ending.

"The Last Of The Finest" didn't do a great deal of business when it was first release, possibly because the studio tried to market it as an action movie (it really isn't), and Dennehy, best known for playing heavies, possibly didn't fit audience's idea of a hero. Actually, Dennehy is pretty good playing his atypical role, believable as a cop who is honest and tries to do the right thing. The supporting cast is also pretty good in their roles. But the central conflict, dealing with bad guys in high places trying to interfere with the conflicts in Central America, is pretty standard stuff. I think that if they had tried to make this more of an action-oriented movie, it would have played a lot better. It's not a bad movie, just somewhat flat as it is. You will find it more entertaining if you watch it on commercial TV, however, because the ludicrous dubbing to remove the extensive foul language is unintentionally funny.