Le Dernier Samaritain

Although this film receives a lot of credit for reinvigorating the action/buddy genre movie, the praise is too often misdirected. For instance, whilst Bruce Willis gives a solid performance as low-life private eye Joe Hallenbeck, we have seen the act a dozen times. There are remnants of Die Hard's John McClane in every knowing smirk and pained cigarette inhalation. Equally, Tony Scott's direction is still based on an obsession with placing bright lights behind the actors and turning up the volume of car chases and gunshots. Jimmy Dix, the faded football hero, is given a suitably comic persona by Damon Wayons and the action sequences are as good as you will find elsewhere in Hollywood. However, these are not the attractions of the film for me.

You might think, from what is written above, that I disliked the film but you would be mistaken to think that as I believe it to be an absolute classic of its kind. I truly think The Last Boy Scout should be used as a teaching tool at film schools the world over. In spite of its glaring limitations it is a movie that has everything! The opening scene is a modern movie classic - up there with those of Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Goodfellas. If there is a film-goer alive whose mouth didn't gape in wonderous amusement at the climax to the opening scene then I am amazed. The plot, as far fetched as it is, provides a perfect vehicle for the key elements that go towards making this the gem of a movie that it is.

First in the list of key elements is the wonderfully funny dialogue. Shane Black's hallmark of snappy one-liners is all over the sizzling repartee between the two heroes. Even Hallenbeck's daughter gets a couple of laugh-out-loud lines. Secondly, the story benefits from the ideal combination of: sport, gambling, violence, comedy, the odd topless dancer, important values of family and friendship, revenge and honour. Take out the topless dancer and they pretty much all feature in The Godfather!

The third crucial component for the success of The Last Boy Scout is the perfect casting of the bad guys. Milo, played to chilling perfection by Taylor Negron, is a bad guy with a difference. He isn't just a mindless hard man. His brilliantly annoying habit of calling people by their elongated names is a superb touch (Joe becomes Joseph, Jimmy becomes James and so on), as are his attempts at civility when trying to "do a formal introduction" with the kidnapped Hallenbeck. Other bad guys are fleshed out and distinguished by quirky traits or funny lines. They are not merely there to make the good guys look good.

Overall, this film is not a piece of celluloid art. It is, however, a perfect example of popcorn-friendly entertainment. It is the sort of movie you imagine the makers would like to see as movie-goers themselves. Without being utterly contemptible or mindlessly low-brow it entertains. An ideal Saturday night movie to watch with a group of friends.

This is going to sound really cheesy but...they REALLY don't make'em like this anymore. This is a film that is as close to matching the level of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard as any early to mid '90s action flick has ever come. Damon Wayans is no Danny Glover or Sam Jackson, but there is a definite chemistry with Bruce Willis, and you can really tell on screen how much fun they're having during the shoot.

The Last Boy Scout is everything a male action enthusiast can desire: there's enough wit to last three movies and the action is generously displayed by Tony Scott on screen. The pacing is actually done well for a change (which is more than can be said about most in the genre). The acting of the supporting cast may not be top notch but then again, that wasn't the case for the Lethal Weapon films and they managed to entertain me for four editions.

The villains are hilariously dorky but that's part of the fun of watching these 'old' action movies. You see bad eighties haircuts and the music playing in the background is as wrong as it gets (usually 'Miami Vice'-like). Take everything with a grain (or a bag) of salt and just lay back and enjoy. There isn't a man alive who can't enjoy TLBS on some level (even if it's just as a guilty pleasure).

Recommended!

In the early 90's, there was a definite, consistent presence in action movies: slow motion cinematography, wild gun-play, and funny one-liners. Granted, there are still some of those today (2004), but it just wasn't the same as back in the day. Now there are so many special effects in the current action films that it drowns out what used to be the great style of a "popcorn flick".

Die Hard paved the way for these type of movies, and some of the offspring of this did well and did not. The Last Boyscout was one that did well. This was a very intelligent and fun action/thriller/buddy-comedy that can still be enjoyed to this day. Tony Scott is the master of under-appreciated action movies in the 90's, such as this and True Romance.

My suggestion is to get a 6-pack, go rent this movie, sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tony Scott's The Last Boy Scout arrived at a time when the macho action thrillers popularised in the 1980's were starting to die out. This, combined with its odd Christmas-time release, meant that the film would go on to underwhelm at the box-office, although it would prove a hit in the rental market and reignite Bruce Willis' action career after the failure of Hudson Hawk. It also took a beating from critics, many voicing their displeasure at the foul-mouthed dialogue and particularly brutal violence. It's a shame really, as looking back, The Last Boy Scout really represents the pinnacle of this overly masculine sub-genre, even though it arrived at a time when audiences were growing tired with it. Yes, it's preposterous, crude and slightly misogynistic, but it's also funny, clever and features screenwriter Shane Black at his most quotable best.

The movie begins with making a mockery of American Football's televised musical intros, before diving right into the thick of the action on a particularly dark and rainy night. Running back Billy Cole (Tae Bo guru Billy Blanks) is having a great night on the field before outside pressures and a hit of PCP lead him to shoot up half of the opposition before turning the gun on himself. Deadbeat private investigator Joe Hallenback (Bruce Willis) is acting as a bodyguard for young stripper Cory (Halle Berry), whilst dealing with his own marital problems in a cheating wife and brat daughter. When Cory is killed, her boyfriend - disgraced former quarterback Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) - finds himself reluctantly buddying up with Joe to slowly unravel a conspiracy that may expose corruption on a massive scale, and offer an explanation for Billy Cole's mysterious suicide. Their snooping isn't appreciated however, and they soon find themselves the target of a criminal gang desperate to cover their tracks and see their plan through to the end.

The Last Boy Scout was famously dogged by production problems, where producer Joel Silver was often cited as the cause of it all. Silver and Willis allegedly took over production, forcing Scott to film scenes he didn't approve of and altering Black's script so much that the finally story barely resembled his original idea. Scott would take revenge in his next film True Romance, where the role of a controlling, cocaine-fuelled producer was modelled on Silver. On top of everything else, Willis and Wayans hated each other. Impressively, these troubles somehow can't be seen in the final product. The chemistry between the two leads is one of the movie's strongest suits, and the plot unravels coherently with more car chases and shoot-outs than you could ever hope for. Scott shoots the film with a glossy commercial aesthetic that works well in the context of the tacky world the film is looking to expose. But the real winner here was Black, who pocketed a cool $1.75 million for his efforts after suffering a setback in his personal life. Despite the changes, this still has the writer's fingerprints all over it, even eclipsing what is undoubtedly his most popular work, Lethal Weapon. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

We watched this on an encore channel and given it's mediocre 2 star rating and age of 14 years we didn't really expect much. First, we aren't connoisseurs of the action flick and maybe it's too uneven to please people who really dote on the genre. There are a couple of places where the plot is advanced without much pretext other than the need to cut to an exciting bit of action. And there are a couple of action scenes that a good editor would simply have cut.

But Willis and Wayans give energetic and nicely tuned performances. Chelsea Field is just perfect in a limited role as the detective's wife. The villains are far better drawn than the usual bunch of lazy thugs. And Danielle Harris steals the show as Darian Hallenbeck, the feisty and foul-mouthed 13 year old daughter. She grows during the film with barely an effort – by either writer or actor. A part written with great comic creativity. Really the best thing about a film that has a lot of imaginative lines and action moments.

And there are lots of places in this film where the writers give us lines that are head and shoulders above typical film dialog – and way, way beyond the norm for most action movies. A quick guess would be that there were a dozen places where a good line turned up instead of the usual clichés.