The Last Boy Scout

The Last Boy Scout is an action hero movie with a dirty mouth. It's one of the first mainstream movie to use the F word in all its variations and glory multiple times in each scene.

The good. Plenty of action. Funny banter. Tough hero. Interesting intrigue.

The actors. Bruce Willis plays a dirty version of his seminal role, John McClane. Halle Berry started her rise on the big screen in this flick.

The bad. The hero does a lot of killing, yet he's not handcuffed once.

The ugly. The lackeys are walking caricatures.

The result. Nice action entertainment with a bit of intrigue. If you're a fan of Willis, I highly recommend it.

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.

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.

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.

Back in 1991 there was still only one way that studios could sell Bruce Willis and that was as various incarnations of his Die Hard hero. Even Eddie (Hudson) Hawkins had similarities to John McClane. Joe Hallenback is a sort of mix between McClane and Snake Plissken. Watching him mumble and grunt thru various near-deaths and close shaves makes for much fun.

Hallenback is a P.I. and scrounges for work wherever he can find it. So he takes up a job protecting a stripper named Cory and soon finds himself in a lot of trouble. Bad guys are trying to get him left right and centre and his bratty 13-year-old daughter tagging along doesn't help much. The bad guys are truly evil and Hallenback seems more like an anti-hero. This adds to the rough nature of the movie and heightens the sense of adventure.

Tony Scott's style of direction is best suited to this type of action flick. The flashy, exotic editing and cinematographic techniques lend a lot to the witty script and compliment the seedy or pretty locations. Shane Black has also written dozens of one-liners and riddled the script with funny dialogue and exciting situations. It's no surprise that this was once the most expensive script ever sold in Hollywood.

Some people say that this film is too violent and misogynist but I honestly cannot understand what they are talking about. I guess it was just a little out of the norm back in 1991. But still the tone of the film is so light and enjoyable you begin to wonder how this never made up for it. Check it out for yourself and I am sure that you will enjoy.

Love that opening song, man. 7/10