Last Run

My best friend kept telling me about this movie he'd seen with his dad recently, "Last Run" with Armand Assante. So I finally rented it, and I'm glad I did. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it "knows what it is." That is, the filmmakers had a strict budget and it appears they worked hard to get everything they could on-screen without over-reaching themselves. The plot is pretty standard spy stuff--the action and Eastern European locations had me thinking of "Ronin" and "The Bourne Identity"--yet it was compelling to watch (the cemetery firefight was a thing of beauty).

Armand Assante chewed the scenery pretty well, which was a good thing--because when he emotes, he enunciates. But when he falls into his calmer, deep-throated growl, he might as well be speaking gibberish, he's so hard to understand. Again, not a perfect movie, but if you like the post-Cold War spy genre, you'll find this one worth a rental.

I feel kinda sorry that LAST RUN didn`t get a theatrical release. It is a perfect B-film that Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckeheimer should be churning out between blockbusters. Hickox masterfully direct East European locations, as good as Michael Oblowitz on a good day.

The plot is straight eighties spy yarn. A team of ex-CIA enforcers are hired to extract a former Soviet bigwig that has some useful post-Cold War know-how. The team is led by hardboiled Assante who lost his wife in the last extraction job.

The script follows the plot and gives us enough detail to care for the characters, gives us enough suspense and twists to care for the plot and sets up some nice action set-pieces.

Sadly, Hickox never cut it in mainstream Hollywood and his resume is quite mixed, look at bizarre failure JILL RIPPS or INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY but in this one he does some A-work with a direct-to-video budget. Every set-piece is smart and juggular and able to grip you by the neck and yet never blow early and uncover the flat budget. Give this man a 25-million-per-actioner-Joel-Silver-treatment (ROMEO MUST DIE, EXIT WOUNDS, CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE) and he`ll outgun Bartkowiak by a mile.

The problem with Hickox making it in Hollywood is that his filmography is too hectic for PR managers. The director of JILL RIPPS is a hard-sell. It is so sad that PR schemes are more important than actual movies in contemporary Hollywood. I cherished the times when Anthony`s dad Douglas was making pictures, when directors were either auteurs or anonymous executors hired to make pictures for pictures` sake. And yet I hope there are enough people unaffected by this PR business who can enjoy a good B-movie and consider Hickox an author that he truly is.

I hope Hickox yet unreleased film BLAST! that seems to be heading to theatres proves to be a surprise hit. We need this man back!

This is a bad movie. The story seemed decent enough. Sadly, that was before I saw the film. Eastern Europe, present, linked to happenings in the last period of the cold war. Our "Hero" tries to escort a man named Bukarin from one place to another. Bukarin is a man many people want. That's the main plot in this movie. For the details, just skip them. It's too difficult to get the whole picture anyway. The scriptwriters did a really lousy job writing the story for this movie, that's for sure. On top of that, the action scenes aren't thrilling either. And for the acting, well, just forget about it.

Avoid this one, it's just a big waste of time.

"Last Run" is all about Asante, an ex-CIA operative in the Communist bloc whose position was made defunct by the end the the cold war and who is paid to escort a wanted-dead-or-alive Soviet ex-security chief to the West against all odds. "Last Run" is an okay Budapest location shoot with Asante serving as a solid centerpiece. However, there's insufficient character development to give us an emotional connection, the action is little more than a lot of shootouts, the drama is mostly lots of scurrying and skulking, and the story is so convoluted it's difficult to follow. Worth a look for the bleary eyed couch potato and Asante fans. (C)

Dear All, This exceptional movie proves once again who can you trust?. The plot is greatly narrated at times where Armand thoughts come alive. And he wonders at times if serving your country as a spy is really worth the time and trouble. I enjoyed this movie and own a copy on DVD. The places used to shoot various scenes are very pictureque. Although the swearing at times was unnecessary.This a very gritty production and needs your undivided attention to grasp the whole story. Don't look for everything to explode!!! It's a "cold war" thinkers flick and if we really had thought about it there would not have been a cold war.

Keith.Charles@ubs.com