The Last Shot
- 2004
- Tous publics
- 1h 33m
A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.
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Director Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick) and fake producer Joe Wells (Alec Baldwin) are making a movie called Arizona, which Schats and his brother happened to write. Along the way, Wells, AKA FBI Agent Joe Devine is talking the FBI into going further and further into actually shooting the movie until it seems that the FBI is actually interested in offering Devine a 3 picture deal.
Meanwhile, the casting is beginning and actually getting the attention of worthwhile movie stars, most notably Emily French (Toni Collette). Toni is visually stunning in this movie.
This movie was not too hard to watch, but still, I thought the talent could have made something much better. I miss the charismatic Broderick of Ferris Beuller. Most of the humor seemed to be of low value shock attempts, with the constant cursing. I am not against it, but in this case, it just seemed more childish and cheap than funny. Overall, not too bad but there are plenty of better movies to choose from. 6.5/10
Based on an apparently true news article, THE LAST SHOT takes a pot shot at not only Hollywood, but also organized crime, production magnates, the FBI, and little people with big dreams lost in the elusive utopia of fame.The plot is well outlined on these pages. Suffice it to say that the FBI sends Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) to Hollywood to pose as a producer to lure the underground crime lord Tommy Sanz (Tony Shalhoub) to surface and be caught. Devine needs a script as he discovers from the gross Fanny Nash (Joan Cusack at her hilarious best) and gradually encounters Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick) who with his pathetic brother Marshall Paris (Tim Blake Nelson) has written an unmarketable, non-salable script called 'Arizona'. Devine grabs on to the project, making Schats the director (his dream come true) and casts the film with has-been actress with box office draw Emily French (Toni Collette who looks terrific and adds yet another priceless cameo to her brilliant repertoire) and Valerie Weston (Calista Flockhart) who just happens to be Schats' squeeze.
The process of film-making and the infectious delirium of Hollywood affects everyone in this film - even the FBI and especially Devine who softens into a man who wants to provide the 'littleman' Schats with his dream. The humor is broad, WAY over the top, crude, and slapstick and in so many ways this movie mimics all of the intangible oddities that make Hollywood what it is. The performances by Baldwin, Broderick, Cusack, Flockhart - and, well, all of the inserted cameos - are excellent. Once you get the premise of this film it moves from being inane to being a really terrific parody with some sensitive metaphors. Grady Harp
Before you know it, the fake filmmaking becomes real as Devine gets into producing and convinces the FBI that they can capture even more mobsters by actually doing the film. Soon the FBI offers him a three-picture deal.
Some of the dialogue is the funniest stuff you'll ever hear, and some of the situations are hilarious. Everyone is excellent, but Toni Collette as insane movie star Emily French is a standout, as is Cusack as a Hollywood agent and Tony Shalhoub as the badly scarred mobster they're after, who says, "My wife set fire to me while I was asleep. Six months later, our marriage fell apart." Parts of this film were laugh out loud funny, a highlight being Collette's audition as well as the opening scene of the film, an FBI sting, and Cusack's talk to the people who are going to work on the film.
Some people will not like "The Last Shot" at all, but it's really worth seeing for the fun it pokes at the film business, for the performances, and some great quotes.
So you've got undercover agent Joe (Baldwin) who is so dedicated to his job, that he lets someone cut his finger off, just in order to get a longer sentence. Then there's Steven (Broderick), a want-to-be film director, who's still searching for his pot of gold...ah, luck. The rest of the characters orbit gently around these two propellers, spawning a genuine web of film-making personnel. Joe and Steven get to know each other when the detective plans to frame a certain low-ranker of the notorious Gotti family (in this particular case, Tommy Sanz, played by Shalhoub) and decides to pose as a film producer in order to fulfill his assignment. He meets Steven, the fate less anonymous screenwriter and the cameras start rolling...well, more or less.
The film proves to be a productive comedy - as in you'll get plenty of chances to prove your laughing capabilities - and is also dubbed by a layer of "sensfullness", meaning it's a smart comedy. Not all the time,I have to admit, but often enough. If I were to compare it with, let's say, "Get Shorty", a rather similar movie, I think I'd go for this one simply because its got more juice to squeeze. Director/screenwriter Nathanson efficiently parodies a lot of wacko attitudes of Hollywood, even though some of these particular scenes did seem to have been forced into the film. All in all, I'd say it's worth your time!
And one more thing...the intro credits are simply brilliant!
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie was based on the real life FBI sting operation in the 1980s to infiltrate the Boston mob teamsters. An FBI agent went undercover as a movie studio executive and contracted George Moffly, an aspiring filmmaker, to create it. Throughout the whole time George had no idea that he was making a fake movie. The sting only captured a few minor Mob members. The details of this unusual story can be found in a GQ article (March 2000).
- GoofsThe same extras playing tourists, wearing the same clothes (notably a woman with a fringed leather jacket), can be seen watching the "Ponderosa" theme park show, in two different scenes supposedly months apart.
- Quotes
Joe Devine: Have you actually seen a person die, watched them bleed to death, seen them take their last breath? I've seen that... many times.
Steven Schats: Why have you seen that?
Joe Devine: I used to produce music videos.
- Crazy creditsIn the middle of the closing credits, a scene with Steven is shown where he has a new girlfriend, a deaf one this time to tackle the "barking dog" problem.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Celebrated: Alec Baldwin (2015)
- SoundtracksNo me quieras tanto
Written by Rafael Hernández (as Rafael Hernandez)
Performed by Los Panchos (as Trios Los Panchos)
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment, S.A. de C.V.
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $464,275
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $164,801
- Sep 26, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $541,330
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1