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
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merklekranz19 February 2017
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rmax30482310 December 2017This story of four heroic Los Angeles cops is packed with action and camaraderie and it observes all the rules of the genre. The four discover that a politician is exchanging military gear with Central American forces -- we don't know which side or which country -- in exchange for twenty-two million dollars of used hundred-dollar bills. I think that's right. Cocaine is mixed up in it somehow. I was never very good at this sort of thing.
The four cops -- Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton -- discover that one of their superiors in the LAPD is particeps criminis and is covering up the operation. Dennehy proves to have too much probity for them so he quits the force. The others quit with him, determined to put a stop to these shenanigans. They do so, although at the loss of one of their own.
That merely adds revenge as a motive to these unfrocked officers of the law. There is the required final shoot out involving all kinds of weaponry and a helicopter that explodes in a fireball when it's down. I mean, it doesn't just flop around on the ground as downed choppers are want to do. There is a ball of flame full blown. There is an abundance of F bombs too. It's not a made-for-TV movie. The budget, if not lavish, was impressive enough.
Some of the banter is amusing. Pantoliano objects before one of the raids that nobody ever elected Dennehy as leader of the group. Dennehy agrees, saying this is a democracy and they should make proposals about the forthcoming action. They vote with great solemnity and elect Dennehy as leader of the group.
Not that much is called for in the way of acting. It might interfere with the headlong plot. Joe Pantoliano comes off best. His character is witty and earnest at the same time. Furthermore he is from Hoboken, New Jersey, Frank Sinatra's home town, and at the time of Pantoliano's youth it was a funky town of stevedores, sailors, and saloons with sawdust floors. Besides, he was my co-star in an unforgettable movie whose title I've forgotten, and he proved to be an unprepossessing person. -
This movie is about what you would expect just from the title and looking at the art on the DVD box. It's a bunch of expert, no nonsense drug cops who are in a war against drugs and there turns out to be corruption high up the ladder. So they have to fight against the odds to keep their war against crime going. Some surprisingly good acting by some decent actors like Dennehy and Pantoliano (spelling?), this one is worth watching if you get a chance.
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"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.
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For those viewers out there that are sick of having just ONE cop on the edge, here we have FOUR - Daly (Dennehy), Gross (Pantoliano), Hojo (Paxton) and Rodriguez (Fahey). They are four lifelong buddies and they fight the war on drugs for the LAPD, with a little football against the DEA team in their leisure time. When the team of four is suspended for doing things their own way (the right way), they decide to go after the baddies themselves, the main culprits being the sinister Norringer (Boyd) and the slimeball Reece (Gwynne). When one of the team is murdered, the remaining three not only go rogue, but now they're out for revenge - but department corruption from their higher-ups and a stash of 22 million dollars complicates matters. The conspiracy thickens when politicians grandstanding about the then-current events in Nicaragua get involved. What will become of the...last of the finest? Last of the Finest is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated film. It's a film about the camaraderie and the brotherhood of the four main leads. And what killer leads they are - Dennehy is very real and likable as the world-weary Daly, Jeff Fahey is perfect as Rodriguez, Pantoliano is the somewhat nerdy but reliable Gross, and Paxton as Hojo is spot-on as well. Interestingly, it's like The Shield before the Shield, as these guys are a sort of strike team as well, and even some plot points in this film bear striking similarities to ones on the first few seasons of The Shield. Could that be a coincidence? Regardless, to have these four actors come together like this is truly a gift. For that reason alone, this movie should be more well known.
Most of the budget probably went to the top-flight actors on display, and there are some classic cop movie/TV show clichés, but they're likable and inoffensive clichés. In fact, they pretty much have to be there so I don't fault the movie at all, especially a movie of this quality, which is higher than a lot of the dreck you'll find elsewhere out there (including on this site).
But it's also a very human story with some good realism, especially the idea that these are good cops doing impossibly hard work in extremely dangerous situations, but the top brass and the pencil-pushers have no clue what goes on in the real world, but they're always telling the cops on the ground what to do. That conflict drives a lot of the film (but not all of it). It seems very relevant, and it also makes for an exciting, interesting and highly watchable film.
The only question now is - when are we getting a DVD release? For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com -
Run-of-the-mill cop turns vigilante and beats the bad guy on his own terms. The only standout point being it's 4 cops, and they're against pretty much everyone up the foodchain.
A narcotics team that for some reason only consists of 4 cops, screw up a bust when they fail to wait for backup.
They get put on suspension, but like any good movie cop, they don't let that stop them, and force a pimp to use a hoe as bait to get intel. This backfires, the pimp gets killed, the hoe gets killed, and now they're down to 3 cops. (Hojo (Paxton) gets killed by an iron fence railing through the chest).
Their leader refuses to get fired and quits instead, and gets the other 2 to quit as well.
To fund their vigilantism, they raid a dope house by driving a dump truck through the wall (score ~$29k).
They then follow their one lead to where it gets most interesting, but it's a plot point that isn't explored any further: the drugs are obtained by selling weapons to overseas cartels under the guise of arming rebels against dictatorships, so the guns are backed by government agencies, so we find that the corruption goes all the way up. From the cops, the DEA, the FBI, the state department, to the senator who is not only organizing the shipments, but gaining funds from fundraisers.
They learn of the next shipment and head out to the docks, where again they screw up, but escape in a stolen truck which just happens to contain the payment for the next shipment of drugs: $22 million in untraceable small bills.
They decide to keep the money as they can't trust anyone to hand it over to, and hide the money in a septic tank in sealed plastic bags. But it turns out their ex-captain is in on it, so they hide their family (after saving them from a kidnapping/assassination) and agree to turn over the money in exchange for safety.
Obviously, both parties have no intention of keeping that promise, which leads to the final shootout, that they organize to be RIGHT WHERE THEY HID THE MONEY, the money that they weren't going to hand over? Yeah, then they tell the bad guys exactly where the money is, and it gets blown up with the bad guys.
They get reinstated even though they're incompetent and committed alot of felonies, and make an anonymous donation to their local baseball/football park (presumably they managed to keep some of it).
Starring:
Michael Hoenig - Music, best known for the music of all the Baldur's Gate PC games
James Gavin - Helicopter Pilot, played a helicopter pilot in 60 movies/TV shows. Was the first ever to do a loop-the-loop in a helicopter.
Larry Carrol - newsman in over 30 shows/movies. No surprise he's been typecast, he also had a tiny role of an extra in the football game in the beginning of the movie, where he glanced directly at the camera no less than three times, and all he was doing was walking off the field.
Xander Berkeley - pimp who gets brutally murdered, John Connor's stepdad in T2 who gets brutally murdered, George Mason from 24 who gets exposed to radiation then flies a plane with a bomb into the desert that explodes brutally self-murdering him, Percy from Nikita where she drops him off a ledge (not really brutally), and Gregory from The Walking Dead that I haven't watched, so I don't know what happens to him there
Henry Darrow - backstabbing Captain who murders an old friend, famous in the 60s for The High Chapparal, played Don Alejandro de la Vega in 3 different incarnations of Zorro in the 80s and 90s
Bill Paxton - Hojo Jones, doesn't do much in the movie, bit of a hothead, gets killed about 1/3 of the way in
Joe Pantoliano - lousy sniper, wasn't a very good shot in The Matrix either (Cypher) -
refinedsugar28 February 2024There's a few elements to like about 'The Last Of The Finest' but also no denying it's a generic cop film only with a political edge that gets fleshed out in the second half. Released in 1990, but feeling like something that would have been right at home in later part of the 80's. I had high hopes for this and the many known faces in it's cast but it gave away to a large servings of predictability.
A special unit of narcotic cops (Jeff Fahey, Bill Paxton, Joe Pantoliano) lead by Lt. Daly (Brian Dennehy) hit a suspicious meat packing plant after getting an informant tip. Not able to wait for Federal backup they go in and things turn violent with not much to show for it. They're suspended, later resign keeping up the battle as civilians when it's clear they've being blocked from government forces above who want to protect an operation of trading drugs for weapons overseas.
Dennehy gets first billing and has no problem being the likable main character, face of the movie. The fact that all his buddies are known names helps. However there isn't any fresh energy in building the story up and all the bad guys are rather bland. Cold assassins, corrupt fellow cops, so-called patriotic politicians who think they're doing the right thing at the tale end of the Cold War and the fight against communism. The real life Iran-Contra fiasco and whatnot.
Everything within 'The Last Of The Finest' trucks along towards a good vs bad finale that supplies the biggest burst of action to be found here. It's your usual mix of gunfire, explosions, setups and a feel good payoff. Fans of cop flicks and/or Dennehy will find something to like, but it's meat & potatoes formula. Intelligence gets shown at the very end mirroring how those at the very top of a political disaster never face the music in real life though. -
nametoo10519 December 1999I was pleased with the cast of reputable players. The story is one of standing up for a cause, even if you are at personal risk in doing so. In a time where violence and pain are often in the movie forefront, this movie focuses on the old fashioned good cop. Although similar plots have been done repeatedly, these guys pull it off well. Kick back and enjoy. Dennehy is a master of taking over a movie.
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eddy-2825 April 2004The 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.
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bayardhiler23 June 2014While I can't say "Last of the Finest" will go down as one of the most memorable films ever made, I am a bit surprised at how few reviews there are for it on this site since it is pretty decent for what it is. The movie is about a squad of four elite vice cops, who take their favorite past time of football just as seriously as do their job. They were formed to do the stuff that the ordinary cops couldn't. But when they start hitting brick walls after a failed drug bust, they begin to suspect that their superiors and possibly even some powerful players in the US government are involved in the drug trade in order to support some rebels fighting in Central America. So in order to find out the truth, they decide to resign and work outside the law. Admittedly this probably sounds similar to other films you might have seen. But the film manages to maintain it's own feel, manly due to the camaraderie and chemistry among the actors who play our heroes. You have the always enjoyable Brian Dennehy as the group's leader Frank, Joe Pantoliano as Wayne, Jeff Fahey as Ricky, and Brian Paxton as Hojo. All play their parts well and Brian Dennehy is able to shine as the one of the good guys instead of the usual heavies he's played through out his career.
And while the story may not be the most original ever written, it is one that has good dialog and also one that has an important message under the surface: Never, under any circumstances, trust your government, especially when they claim to be doing something for the common good! The film especially shows this at the very end in a sly, clever way. When you see it, you'll know what I mean. The movie does start out a little slow but at the same time you do get a chance to really know the characters and care about them. The movie also has some pretty decent villains in the form of Michael C. Gwynne as the Slimy Anthony Reece and Guy Boyd as Norringer. Like I mentioned earlier, the film seems to have gone under the radar. Perhaps it's because the market was already saturated with cop-buddy films at that time and the audience probably was getting tired of them by then. Still, if you should find yourself with nothing to do and are looking for a decent cop film, give "Last of the Finest" a chance. -
LeonLouisRicci24 August 2021Miss-Marketed and Ignored Movie about Four Honest Cops Knee-Deep in the Stench of Political and Law-Enforcement Corruption.
Reagan-Era Blow-Back about Highly Corrupt Politicians and Leaders in the LAPD Using Drug-Money to Get Rich and Fund the "Freedom-Fighters" in Central America.
Thinly Veiled Commentary about the Iran-Contra Scandal.
The Studio seemed Nervous about the Political Aspects of this Character Study.
It's about an Elite Squad of Brian Dennehy, Joey Pants, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton Uncovering Not Only Drug-Trafficking but Corruption at the Highest Levels.
The Movie was Ignored by the Studio and Given the Bum's Rush.
Did Not Screen Well with Critics (What do they know?).
The Film is a Fine Action/Drama with the Four Actors Delivering Good Character Comradery and are a Convincing Squad.
Suspenseful Story Peppered with Good Action.
Underrated and Unacknowledged Film that Deserves a Second-Look. -
jwwright-34 August 2014This 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. -
lor_8 May 2023My 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. -
crankyerma198423 January 2023The fact that this film even touched upon the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980's (It was meant for release in 89) and it actually saw time in the theaters is a minor miracle in itself. However, the script didn't lean nearly hard enough into the substance. That was most likely a studio requirement. The cast, especially Dennehy and Paxton showed star power before they had it. Early on, Paxton is so full of life and likeable that you kind of know he's go to go in order to drive his compadres' motivation to go after the bad guys. It works exactly as it should have thanks to hi performance. The film's meager budget and the fact an true action veteran was not helming the picture hurt it from that angle but it carries the day as a truly solid watch. Fahey and Joey Pants were excellent and about as sympathetic as they are ever permitted to be onscreen. I can't say that this is among the all time greats among the good cops versus a corrupt system genre and the post-"Lethal Weapon" blues guitar score really dates it at times but I would highly recommend action fans checking it out. It is a helluva lot better than the appearing on free streaming services status it's been relegated to these days.
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jennifercolbert7221 December 2003I saw this on TV and was disappointed in how small a role Bill Paxton had in it. He was the main reason I was interested in seeing it. The movie is not that bad, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before, either. If you're interested in cop dramas, this one is average.
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QueenoftheGoons11 May 2021So good. I watched this movie with Dad. Ol Dennehey delivers. Its just so good. If he weren't in it might not be worth watching despite Fahey & Stolow. Its good from beginning to the end, where the money is stashed in a most memorable place. We had the VHS i got rid of it when i got the Blu-Ray, actually come to think of it that's the VHS i gave to Mom. I heard her watching it in the other room. I shut the music off on my computer to listen to it. She said she had to shut it off it was keeping her awake. I cried when i told her Dennehy died, and she shared in the tears too. Good thing Dad passed away, he couldn't have handled it either. Dennehey - yes he truly was the last of the finest.
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helfeleather23 October 2002Three good, honest L.A. cops are up against hundreds of heavily armed and highly powerful corrupt senior cops, government officials and politicians. Who do you think is going to win? It doesn't really matter, as long as they have the incredibly sexy Ricky Rodriguez (Jeff Fahey) on their side in tight jeans and a black leather jacket.
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millerian-027978 March 2024Like filipe furtado pointed out, this does feel very similar to the best of the hk crime films, focused on an ultimate dilemma, the central characters caught up in crime, and focusing on how they get out of it, four cops and the three that are left when one of them dies, forced to go rogue and on the run, another film about fighting outside of the law despite being hired to work within it, a great case in excellent craftsmanship coming in the mid-budget tier zone, and focusing on essential build-up, a slow, methodical film that starts out as an essential drama, where our characters' family lives are detailed and then destroyed before our eyes, which then comes up with a ton of money, and what to do with it, the screenplay co-written by miami blues director george armitrage explores this psyche of the cops, not the cops who barely give a you-know-what and just wait for their pension, the cops who fight tooth and nail because they have a family back home to protect, if they don't stop these drug runners, what is to stop these drug runners from getting drugs all the way to their kids, it is extremely violent as well, but because mackenzie worked a lot on street crime films and understated dramas, the violence here is quick and never carthartic, a helicopter explodes but at what cost? And how much death until you can finally celebrate a meaningless victory? Not an action film as detailed, but a surprisingly richly observed drama in many contexts, melancholy, and the proper character work makes this feel genuine and richly told, very few hollywood films feel as if they embody real life, but this one embodies the middleground of real world corruption and the genuine human drama that lingers through.