The Last Boy Scout Review (Revisited) "And then some!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we are now into April, which is pretty unreal as how quickly time flies and as we near Easter, I thought I would do a couple of posts. So, I figured I would start with another revisit of an older post I did of the 1991 action film, The Last Boy Scout starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans, which I've been re-watching again recently. 

So, 30 years on from its original release, let's take another look at this buddy action film...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

The film begins with an American football player named Billy Cole (Billy Blanks) who receives a phone call from a mysterious caller, who tells Billy that he must start scoring touchdowns or he will be "history".  Cole, who is under the influence of drugs, then goes out onto the pitch and during play he produces a gun and shoots a few of the opposing team's players before taking his helmet off and saying in front of the crowd and TV cameras "Ain't life a bitch?!" and shoots himself in the head. 

The next morning, private investigator Joe Hallenback (Bruce Willis) and former secret service agent, discovers that his wife Sarah (Chelsea Field) is having an affair with his friend and fellow detective, Mike Matthews (Bruce McGill).  Mike however is killed in a car bomb just outside Joe's house, but before he died he gives Joe the assignment of protecting a stripper named Cory (Halle Berry).  

At a bar where Cory works, Joe ends up meeting her boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) a former LA Stallions quarterback, who was banned from the sport for gambling and drug abuse.  After Joe argues with Jimmy, Jimmy angrily takes Cory away while she is performing her striptease.  Joe afterwards is attacked by henchmen outside and taken away into an alley, but he manages to escape.  

Meanwhile Jimmy and Cory head back to her apartment where Cory tells Jimmy that she could get him his old job back as a quarterback with the Stallions. Not long after, they leave in separate cars, another car hits the back of Cory's car who gets out to confront the driver, but she is then shot dead by hitmen in the car.  Jimmy scarcely survives the hit as he is rescued by Joe, who turns up and kills the hitmen. 

After they are taken to the local police station and Joe meets with police Captain Benjamin Bessalo (Joe Santos) who despise Joe and warns him to watch his step.  Bessalo also tells one of his officers McCoskey (Clarence Felder) however that Joe one time saved the president's life when he was a secret service agent.  Jimmy after they leave the station persuades Joe to help him track down who was behind Cory's murder.  

The next day Joe and Jimmy go to Cory's apartment where they find a tape, which is of a phone conversation between Senator Calvin Baynard (Chelcie Ross) and the owner of the LA Stallions football team, Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham).  While listening to the tape, Jimmy accidentally ruins the tape by pressing fast forward on Joe's faulty car tape player.  Jimmy then realises that Cory was actually going to use the tape as leverage to force Marcone to give Jimmy's job back.  

Jimmy decides to leave in his own car, but Joe then stops him as he realises that Marcone would have rigged Jimmy's car as well and they find plastic explosives planted in the car.  At this point two thugs turn up and beat them up and force them to hand over the tape, but Joe tricks them having planted the explosives under the boot of the car, which one of the hitmen tries to open by shooting it and they are killed in the blast with Joe and Jimmy diving out the way just in time.

Later at the police station again, Bessalo berates Joe for his actions and gives him a final warning not to see him again.  Joe also reveals to Jimmy the reason he kicked out of the secret service was because he stopped Baynard from sexually assaulting a woman and as a result Joe was fired from the secret service as he refused to cover up the incident.  

Joe then goes back home with Jimmy, where they meet Joe's feisty 13 year old daughter, Darian (Danielle Harris) who argues with her dad, as she is angry because he won't let her go to a party.  Joe later catches Jimmy in the bathroom using drugs and furiously punches him and tells him to get out.  As Jimmy leaves Darian asks for his autograph and reveals that Joe used to be a fan of Jimmy's before he got busted.  

The next morning however, Bessalo learns of Mike's affair with Sarah and concludes that Joe killed Mike himself and sends McCoskey to arrest him.  However the hitmen lead by Milo (Taylor Negron) capture Joe and Milo shoots McCoskey as he arrives, using Joe's prints to make it look he shot McCoskey.  Joe is then taken to Marcone who reveals he intends to use Joe to frame him for murdering Baynard, as a result of Baynard's refusal to take Macrone's bribes to cease his investigations on him into illegal sports gambling.

Joe is then taken out into the woods where he is photographed handing over a briefcase to Baynard's bodyguards, which contains explosives.  Joe however manages to escape from Milo and the hitmen with help of Jimmy and Darian, who comes along with him.  Joe manages to run Milo off the road however during the ensuing car chase, but Milo survives and kidnaps Darian.  

And after this, Joe decides the only thing they can do is take down Marcone in order to save his daughter and save Baynard...

THOUGHTS 

There is no doubt that The Last Boy Scout is a ridiculous movie and it is so over the top that it makes some other action films look credible in comparison.  However its because it dares to be so silly and over the top that it manages to succeed in being a very entertaining film to watch especially as the two leads of Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans share a good onscreen chemistry in their at first grudging buddy buddy relationship.

The film's production however was far from smooth as it was hampered by many problems, especially between Willis and Wayans, who both hated working with each other. The director Tony Scott also had his share of problems with the film's producer, Joel Silver, who continually tried to wrestle control of the production throughout. 

The film's screenplay was also written by Shane Black (who wrote the Lethal Weapon screenplay and later directed and worte Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) which he got a whopping $1.75 million dollars for.  Whether or not Black's script warranted such a high fee is highly debatable but he does allow for plenty of amusing dialogue and witty one liners but he too also had his struggles during the production and had to do extensive rewrites of his script (which was ironically originally titled as Die Hard!).

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances, overall they are pretty good here with a fine cast all on good form.  

Starting with Bruce Willis, who is excellent in his role as Joe Hallenbeck, the cynical, unshaven, private detective, who is essentially a good guy and has a fine line is dry witty one liners.  

And Willis's best scenes include the one where Joe finds out Mike has been having an affair with his wife, Sarah and Joe figures it out as he uses his detective skills to suss things out. So, in the scene, Joe goes into the bathroom and sees the shower is off and the toilet seat is up. So, he goes back out and asks Sarah "Who's the guy in the closet?" and Sarah asks "What?" and Joe says "Oh, that's right, sometimes you forget I'm a detective! Guess you figured you'd hide him in there when you heard my key hit the lock a day early. So, who's the guy in the closet?". Sarah however angrily says "OK! We'll open the closet and then we'll both know you're a FUCKING PSYCHO! Is that what you want?!". Joe however warns her "No, the door stays shut. What I'm gonna do, is count to three and then I'm gonna put a bullet in that door. You can stop me any time by telling the truth!".

So, just as Joe counts to three, Mike suddenly opens the closet, putting his hands up and he says nervously to Joe "Come on, Joe. Don't do nothing dumb!". And Joe says "Keepin her warm for me, Mike?" and he then asks "How was she? On your finger scale how was my wife?" and Mike pleads with Joe "It just happened" and Joe sarcastically says "Oh sure! It just happened. You walked in, tripped on the floor and accidentally stuck your dick in my wife! I'm sorry, Mrs H! I guess this just isn't my week!". 

There is also the scene where Joe first meets Jimmy at the strip bar and the two them argue and Joe tells him he is a private detective and Joe also says how he knows who Jimmy is. So, in the scene Jimmy says to Joe as he is reluctant to tell him why he is working for Cory as a detective "Man, you couldn't protect a cup of warm piss!" and he throws some ice at him and Joe says "OK, why don't you just hit me?" and Jimmy asks "What?" and Joe taunts him "Come on, chicken shit, bust me in the chops! You don't think an old guy like me could hurt you, do you, Jimmy?". 

So, Jimmy asks "Oh, so you know who I am?" and Joe says "James Alexander Dix. Quarterback for the LA Stallions, 89-90. Banned from the league on allegations of gambling and drug abuse. Another tragic tale of wasted youth" and Jimmy angrily stands up and says "NOW you're starting to piss me off!". Joe then says "About fucking time!" and he offers his hand "Joe Hallenback...private detective" but Jimmy angrily knocks it away and shouts "You look like fuckin low life to me!" and Joe says to him "At least I didn't shit my talent away on coke!" which prompts Jimmy to take a swing at Joe, who blocks it with his hand and he overpowers Jimmy and knocks him to the floor and he picks his glass and says "I seemed to have dropped my warm cup of piss!". 

Also there is the moment where Joe is about to killed in an alley by a hitman and he teases the hitman by saying how he allegedly had sex with the hitman's wife, and teases how fat his wife allegedly is. So, in the scene Joe asks the hitman "Ask me how fat she is" and the hitman annoyed says "Fuck you, man!" but he takes a moment and smiles and asks "How fat is she?". So, Joe jokes "She's so fat, I had to roll in flour and find the wet spot" and the hitman laughs and Joe continues "If you want to fuck her, you have to slap her and ride the wave in" and the hitman laughs some more and Joe finishes "I'm not saying she's fat, but her high school picture was an aerial photograph!". And at this time point, the hitman is roaring with laughter, which catches him off guard long enough for Joe to hit him with a broken bottle and escape, leaving injured hitman to say "Ohhh, you bastard!" and Joe to says hus oft repeated line "And then some!". 

Then there is the scene where Joe is captured by Milo and taken to Marcone's place and is beaten by one of Milo's thugs, Chet (Kim Coates) and when Joe asks for a light he says to Chet "I'm gonna need a light, and if you touch me again I'll kill you" but Chet punches Joe again, who gets up and delivers a sucker punch to the man's face, which puts his nose into his brain, killing him instantly, Joe then stands and spits on him saying "Told you!". 

And as Milo enters, and says to Joe "Joseph, you don't disappoint me. You took an awful risk. Pablo here could have shot you dead" and Joe cooly says "If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me already" and Milo smiles and says "That's true". Milo then says to Joe "Could we do a formal introduction..." and Joe interrupts him and says "Who gives a fuck?! You're the bad guy, right?" and Milo smiles and says "I AM the bad guy!" and Joe asks "And I'm supposed to be trembling with fear, something like that?" and Milo says "Something like that" and Joe coolly says "Fine! I'll start trembling in a minute".  

And later on when Joe and Jimmy escape from Milo and during the car chase Jimmy tells Joe he has a plan to distract the bad guys by drawing a picture of a bomb, which Joe berates him for. So, in the scene Jimmy says "Roll down the window and I'll yell at them" and Joe shakes his head and shouts "That's the lamest fucking plan I've ever head! Its bullet proof glass, they're not gonna hear you, ya moron!". 

So, Jimmy draws a feeble pic of a bomb that looks more like an apple with "BOM" written on it and Jimmy shows it to Joe and Joe looks at him in disbelief and says "You kidding me?!". So, as Jimmy shows the pic to the bad guys in a car right next to them, they shoot passegner window, which shatters and Joe says "By the way, "bom" means fuck you in Polish!" and Jimmy says "That's funny, man! I almost bought it!" and Joe sarcastically says "Tragic loss to the art world, I tell you!".  And last of all in the scene, Joe admits to Jimmy "I swear to Christ, Junior, if I ever survive this fucking case I'm gonna dance a jig!".

Damon Wayans is also very good in his role as Jimmy Dix, the former American football player, who was disgraced due to gambling and drug abuse charges, and teams up with Joe to help find out who was behind her murder.

Wayans also get's his fair share of snappy one liners and he also has some good moments in the film (even the odd dramatic one).  

As for his scenes, for starters there is the one where Jimmy first meets Joe at the bar when Joe meets with Cory to discuss her case. So, Jimmy says to Joe "You're nobody!" and Joe says "Shh! Don't tell anyone!". And as they talk, Jimmy get's annoyed with Joe for not being so forthcoming about why he is dealing with Cory and he says to him "Look, Cory is my girl. If she's in some kind of trouble, I want to know abou it!". Joe however says "Confidential, big boy!" but Jimmy insists "Well, why don't you just tell me anyway?!" and Joe firmly says "Nope!". So, Jimmy angrily says "Man, you could protect a cup of warm piss!" and sips a drink throws some ice at Joe, who tells him he knows who Jimmy is and how was "another tragic tale of wasted youth". So, Jimmy angrily stands and says "Now you're starting to piss me off!" and Joe says "About fuckin time! Joe Hallenbeck, private detective" and Jimmy angrily says "You look like fuckin low life to me!" and Joe says "At least I didn't shit my talent away on coke!". 

Then there is the scene where Jimmy and Joe go to Corry's apartment after Jimmy tells Joe that Corry had a high tech security system installed and only he could deactivate or "circumvent" it.  So they go to Corry's apartment and  at the door, Joe says to Jimmy "Your show, Ace" and Jimmy proceeds to kick the door in and Joe looks at him saying "Security system??" and Jimmy says "Yeah, I circumvented it!".

Another funny scene is when Jimmy and Joe are being beaten up by Milo's henchmen and one of them likes using fancy words such as "untenable" and "exuberance" and Jimmy gasps saying "Shit! We're being beaten up by the inventor of Scrabble!". 

And one of Wayans best moments actually comes in a more serious scene where Joe catches him sniffing drugs in his bathroom and Joe decks him and tells him to get out his house.  And Jimmy tells Joe about how easy it is to get fixed on painkillers in the sport "This shit starts real easy man.  First you take dimmerol because your fuckin knees are shot and before you know it you are chewin codine with your pancakes!".  And then he angrily says to Joe "Why is there a fuckin personal injury report in pro football? No one else has one, pro football does. You know why? Its because so the gamblers can have a fucking accurate spread!  Its all business now, they push you till you blow your brains out!  Just like Billy Cole did! Can't you see those fuckin hypocrites took away MU FUCKIN LIFE??!". 

Wayans has some funny moments of course in the film such as the scene where Milo's thugs bounce Jimmy off a car and before they do he says to them "Look I can't figure which one of you looks more like my dick! So, if you've got something to say, say it or get the fuck out of my way!" and Jimmy struggles with them, they throw him off the bridge onto a car below he groggily get's up and says "Don't try this at home folks.  I'm a trained professional.  There's me and there's Super Dave!" and he passes out. 

And later as Jimmy and Joe race off to try and stop Baynard from being assassinated by Milo, Jimmy says to Joe "I figure you gotta be the dumbest guy in the world, Joe and Joes asks "Why's that?" and Jimmy says "You're trying to save the life of the guy who ruined your career, and the avenge the death of the guy that fucked your wife!". 

And last of all is the scene where Joe and Jimmy confront Marcone and in the scene, Jimmy asks Marcone "Why did you kill Cory?" and Marcone tells him "She took to blackmail, Jim. I got no truck with that. Hell, she was one of the sweetest little whores I've ever tasted!". Jimmy then turns angry and says "There's five feet of marble between me and you. Maybe I make it, maybe I don't. If you call her a whore again, I'm gonna find out!". 

And this is followed by where Jimmy makes a last ditch effort to save his and Joe's lives by telling him they know where the six million dollars Marcone was using to bribe Baynard, is located. So, Jimmy says to Marcone "We've got the key, its in a locker!" and Marcone asks "Where is it?" and Jimmy says "I've got it stashed in my shorts" and Marcone says "Ok, easy easy". So, Jimmy reaches into his leather pants and takes out one of the explosive shredders with the key and he throws it on the fire and he says "Whoops! Looks like no one get's the key. That's one of those new plastic keys!" and he turns to Joe and warns him "The kind that shred!" and Joe realises what he means and he yells at Darianne to get down just before a huge explosion goes off.

Taylor Negron makes a pretty effective villain as the creepy Milo, who is in Marcone's employee, and has a tendency to call everyone by their Sunday names, i.e. Joe is Joseph.  

And Taylor's best scenes include the one where Milo kills the police officer, McConey, who asks him if there is a problem as he approaches Milo's car and Milo says "Yes there is a problem, officer, apparently there are too many bullets in this gun!" and he shoots him dead.  And as they take Joe's prints they dump the gun out the window and Milo says "you've been a naughty boy, Joseph.  You've just shot a policeman!". 

Another good scene is when Milo enters to find a captured Joe, has just killed one of Milo's men, Chet and says to Joe "Joseph, you don't disappoint me. You took an awful risk. Pablo here could have shot you dead" and Joe cooly says "If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me already" and Milo smiles and says "That's true". Milo then says to Joe "Could we do a formal introduction..." and Joe interrupts him and says "Who gives a fuck?! You're the bad guy, right?" and Milo smiles and says "I AM the bad guy!" and Joe asks "And I'm supposed to be trembling with fear, something like that?" and Milo says "Something like that" and Joe coolly says "Fine! I'll start trembling in a minute. In the meantime, you think I could have a drink?". And Milo replies "Of course" and he says to Pablo "Pablo, could you take Chet's corpse out of here and fix Mr Hallenbeck a drink?".

Then we have the scene where Milo get's riled by Joe after he tells him to go "fuck" himself. So, Milo says "OK, that's not polite! That's very abusive sounding" and he takes out his switchblade and holds it to Joe's face and says "What would you do, Joseph if someone told you to go fuck yourself?  Would you cut one of their eyes out?!" and Joe calmly replies "No" and Milo filled with intense anger asks him "No? WHAT would you do?!". So, Milo laughs and says to Joe "You think you're so fuckin cool, don't you?! You think your so FUCKIN cool! Well, just once I would like to hear you scream in pain!" and Joe coolly says "Play some rap music" and Milo just smiles at his glib reply and closes his switchblade. 

And last of all is the scene where Milo kidnaps Darianne and drives with her to the ball game where he will prepare to assassinate Baynard. So, Milo phones Joe (from the car phone in one of the henchmen's cars that Joe shot up) and says to him "Hey, motherfucker!" and Joe asks "Hey, Milo! Where are you calling from? The bottom of the pool?!" and Milo says "I'm on my way to the ball game, of course! I've got someone here, who wants to talk to you". So, Milo hands over the phone to Darianne who, clearly scared says "Dad? I'm OK. I'm not hurt" so Milo takes it back and warns Joe "You better back off, Joseph or I'm gonna show your daughter what a hot date I am!" and he hangs up.  

Noble Willingham is also good as the film's main villain, Sheldon "Shelly" Marcone who owns the LA Stallions and employs Milo as his main henchman, who he uses to take care of business.  

Willingham also has some good scenes such as the scene where he takes a swim at his mansion and Joe is held captive and is somewhat insolent toward him. So, in the scene, Milo tells Pablo to fix Joe a drink at Joe's request and Marcone appears and says "Make that two!". So, Joe looks up and says "Oh, if it ain't Shelley Marcone himself!" and Marcone warns him "Careful, son! Just my friends call me Shelley" and Joe with one of the funniest lines, asks him "You got friends? When did this happen?". And Shelley in mid swim, says "Well I'll give you this, you sure are feisty for a man in your position.  Milo teach him some manners, will you?" who proceeds to hit Joe twice in the back of the neck.  

This is then followed by Shelley telling his plans on how he wants to legalise gambling and that Senator Baynard is the senator he can't bribe, so he intends to have him killed and frame Joe for the crime. So, in the scene, Shelley says to Joe "Its all different now, free agents! Gimme, gimme, gimme! You now got players wigging out, shooting themselves on the field! The public are turning over and piss-pot tired of it!". Shelley then says to Joe "This is big money! We're taking billions! That's nine zeros, son!" and Joe angrily says "I'm not your fuckin son!". 

Shelley then tells Joe how he planned to bribe Baynard but it wasn't enough what he offered. So, Shelley tells Joe "I tried to bribe that son of a bitch but it wasn't enough, so he sent it back" and Joe smiles and asks "How much does he want" and Shelley says "Six million, or he'll go straight to the police. Hell, I think It'll be just cheaper to kill that son of a bitch!". Joe smiles and says "Killing a US senator is a ballsy move even for an asshole like you" and Shelley smiles and says "You said it, Joe boy! That's why we're gonna frame you for the senator's murder".

And later as he captures Joe and Jimmy he says to Jimmy "You got hooked on demerol, because you couldn't take the pain, you hated the pain!  Life is pain, Jim!" and he grabs and shoots Jimmy in the hand and he drops a handkerchief for Jimmy, who painfully wraps his hand round it. So, Shelley says to Joe "Discipline! Kids these days, don't have good discipline!" and he takes hold of a tearful Darianne and says "Don't you cry, honey. Just come round here with old Uncle Shelley" and Joe asks "Let the girl go" but Shelley punches him in the face and tells his men "Get them outta my misery!". 

However, Joe tells him he has the money and if he plans anything, he wil go to the mob with what Shelley is planning on doing to legalise gambling but what that falls short, Jimmy tells Shelley they have the money and where key is stashed to the case. So, as Jimmy takes out the key he says to Shelley "You gotta promise to let me go" and Shelley says "Bullshit! Give him that key or I'll have you knee-capped!" and Jimmy throws the key into the fire and says "Looks like no one get's they key" and Shelle shouts to his men "GET THE GODDAMN KEY!" but Jimmy says to Joe its the "kind that shred!" and they dive out the way as the shredder key explodes.  

Danielle Harris also makes a good impression in her part as Joe's feisty daughter teenage daughter, Darian.  

Harris also get's some good scenes in the film such as her first scene where she has an argument with Joe, while watching TV (and its Lethal Weapon playing in the background!) .

And in the scene, as Joe arrives home with Jimmy, she holds up a toy bear and puts on a fake voice pretending to be the bear, saying "Darian isn't talking to you just now. She is pissed with you big time!". However, Darian then notices the scars on his face from his beating earlier with the two henchman and she asks in her normal voice, a bit concerned "What happened to your face??" and Joe says "Nothing, it always looks like this!".  

Joe then get's out some chocolate ice cream from the fridge for Darian and asks her "Do you want some?" but Darian is clearly angry with him and shouts "Leave me alone! I hate you!". Joe quietly tells Jimmy "She pissed off because I wouldn't let her go on a date with her friend, Tommy" and Darian shouts "I only missed the best party of the year!". So, Joe asks here "You want some of this? Its chocolate chip, you favourite" and she says angrily "I don't care! You're an asshole!" prompting Joe to angrily throw the ice cream out the door and tells her "You know how I hate to waste food!". So, he walks up to Darian and says "You want to abuse me some more? Go ahead, shock me! I hardly every hear the word "asshole"!" and Darian says "Oh, bullshit! I bet you hear it all the time!" but Joe, irritated says "Right that's enough, Darian!". 

So, after Joe tells her off for talking like a "trash mouth" he taunts her to shock him with some more bad language and she angrily turns the volume up on the remote, saying "God! Your such a fuck up!".  And Joe snatches the remote, turns the TV off and angrily tells Darian "Darian! You are my daughter and you are in my house and you will respect me, you got that?! You don't EVER call me a fuck up!" and Darian says "Why not?  Mom calls you it all the time!". Joe then taken aback asks "You're mum called me a fuck up? When?!" and Darian says "On the phone with Uncle Jay" and Joe laughs and says how he is supposed to be "fuck up" but her Uncle is a stand-up guy, who cheats on his tax returns. So, Joe asks her "So, you tell me why "Mr Wonderful" isn't service prison sentence for tax evasion?" and Darian tells him "Because he doesnt't fuck up!".

Chelsea Field is also pretty good in her brief role as Sarah, Joe's wife and their strained marriage has resulted in her having an affair with Joe's best friend, Mike. 

So, I will mention two scenes for Chelsea with the first being when Joe arrives home and discovers a few clues that lead him to believe Sarah is hiding someone in the closet.

So, Joe says to her having checked the shower and the toilet seat (being up) and even under the bed "Who's the guy in the closet?" and Sarah asks "Excuse me?" and Joe tells her "Oh, that's right, sometimes you forget I'm a detective!" and Sarah says "I don't believe this! You're STILL a lunatic!". Sarah then says "OK, so we'll open the closet and we'll both know that your're a fuckin psycho!" and Joe says "The door stays shut. What I'm gonna do is count to three and put a bullet in that door. You can stop my any time by telling the truth!". Sarah then shouts at him "Call your shrink, Joe! Call and tell him you're fucking losing it!" and Joe says "The truth is a beautiful thing. One...two..." and Sarah shouts "How dare you come in here and..." and Joe says "Three..." and Sarah shouts "NO!" and the door opens and we see Mike, sitting in the closet with his hands up. 

And this is then followed by the scene just after Mike is killed by a car bomb, the police arrive on the scene as Joe and Sarah stand nearby both stunned by Mike's death. Sarah then asks "Who the fuck did this, Joe?" and Joe quips "Mr Rogers! How the hell shoud I know?" and Sarah says of her affair with Mike "You knew, didn't you?" and Joe says "I suspected" and Sarah angrily asks "Goddamn it, Joe. Why didn't say anything?!". Joe then says "What do you want me to say? "Fuck you, Sarah?" and Sarah shouts at him "Yeah! Or anything to get a rise out of you! How about "you're lying bitch, Sarah! If there weren't cops here, I would spit on your face!". Joe then asks her "You want me to spit on you?" and Sarah says "It would show you still had some pride left!" and Joe walks off and says "Fresh out, honey!". Sarah then angrily says to Joe "Fuck you, Joe! You are never around, I was lonely!" and Joe coldly says to her "Buy a dog!" and Sarah says to him "I'm not the one that hates you. YOU'RE the one that hates you!" and Joe says "And I get to live with myself 24 hours a day!".       

Bruce McGill is also pretty good in his brief role as Mike, Joe's best friend and fellow private detective, who just so happens to be sleeping with Joe's wife behind his back but things don't end so well for him as he passes up a case to Joe.

So, I will mention only one of McGill's scenes and its the one where Mike calls Joe at his office and Mike tells him "I've got a job for you. Stripper, sorry exotic dancer. She's hot, Joe. She rates a three on my finger scale. That means I'd cut off three of my fingers if God would let me fuck her!" and Joe quips "Make her one on your nose scale. Improve your looks!". Mike then says "Yeah, eat me! So, you interested?" and Joe says "Well, I was planning on smoking some cigarettes" and Mike asks him "Can't you postpone?" and Joe says "I don't know, they're pretty good cigarettes". So, Joe says "OK, give me her address, I'll be at your office in an hour" and Mike says "Great! Comb your hair and I'll lend you a nice shirt..." and Joe hangs up on him. 

And last of all is Halle Berry as Cory, Jimmy's girlfriend, who is murdered by Marcone's men and Jimmy sets out to seek revenge for her death with Joe's help. 

And I will mention just a couple of her scenes starting with the one where Joe meets with Cory at the strip bar where she works. So, Cory who serves him a drink asks "Should I pay you now?" and Joe tells her "No, you shouldn't pay me now, sit down" and Cory sits down. Joe then asks her "So, you sure the cops can't help you?" and Cory says "Sure, after I'm dead, they'll perform the autopsy" and Joe says "I guess you don't want to wait around that long" and she says "Guess not". 

Joe then complains about the music in the bar and says "Is this the only music they play in this joint? Hate this funk shit!" and Cory asks "What did you expect?" and Joe says "The Four Freshmen, Pat Boone". Cory then scornfully asks him "What are you? My father?" and Joe says "Yeah, I'm your father! Put some clothes on!" and Cory walks up to him and says "You're hilarious! Go up to the speaker and put your head in it and you'll scream "play that funky music, white boy!" and she hits his side with her butt and walks off and Joe says to himself "The screaming part I believe!".

And lastly there is the scene where Jimmy and Cory lie together on a couch and they make a toast with some glasses and drink and Jimmy smashes his glass. So, Cory then says to him "If I were a cat I would purr" and Jimmy slides his hands up to her breasts and she slaps his hands and says "Behave!". Cory then asks him "I've got your birthday, do you want to see it?" and Jimmy peeps insider her top and says "Is it look like that?" and he asks "Can you give me a hint?" and Cory says "OK" and she turns to him and asks "How would you like to get your old job back?". 

DIRECTOR     

Finally moving onto the director, it was directed by the late Tony Scott (younger brother of Ridley Scott).  And Scott overall does a fine job here as he is no stranger to action films he keeps the film's pace tight and the action scenes are pretty OTT by they are well staged and the action is entertaining all the same. Scott however was forced to make some cuts to the film's violence in order to avoid given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and recieve the standard R rating.

Scott did however of course have his troubles during production as he had to deal with the tensions between Willis and Wayans as well as studio interference from producer, Joel Silver. However that all aside, Scott does a pretty good job here with the film despite his problems making it.  

Michael Kamen also provides a fairly good film score which is akin to his other action flick scores of that period with the usual mix of orchestration and even synths at certain points, so its good albeit not one of very Kamen's best. 

The film soundtrack also makes use of a few other songs such as "Get Off" by Prince, "Moody River" by Pat Boone and unfortunately the film's awful intro title track "Friday's night a great night for football" sung by Brian Medley, which the less said about the better! 

FLAWS (Warning: expect some spoilers in this section!) 

Moving onto the flaws section of the Last Boy Scout does it have any????  Well yeah, its not a perfect film by any means, so it does have some. 

For starters the film's buddy buddy preface is pretty generic as Joe and Jimmy form an uneasy alliance to uncover who was behind Cory's murder and evolves into your typical friendship towards the end. The plot however is still fairly good and a cut above most buddy buddy films in that respect but it still kind of plays out the same way as many other films of its type do. 

The other thing that is so ridiculous about the film is how Joe get's away with all the murders he commits, by killing all the hitmen in the film, and he even assaults Baynard again at the end of the film, where Joe asks Baynard "head or gut?" meaning where yo do you want to get punched???  And he does all this yet there are no repercussions for him whatsoever as I'd imagine Baynard didn't press charges, or perhaps Joe revealed in the end he was acting in Baynard best interests to save his life.  Or maybe not.  Again logic in action films is never a strong point, least of all in Hollywood action films!

I also thought the scene near the end of the film where Captain Bessalo turns up at the scene after Joe foils Milo's attempts to kill Baynard was a bit stupid as Joe tells Bessalo where the case of explosives is and he open its to find money inside instead, as Marcone took the wrong case earlier from the car. However, I think given that the case is filled with explosives and as Marcone opens it himself at his house and is blown up, Bessalo was taking a hell of chance in opening the case of money himself because if it was the explosives then he'd be dead too! So, yeah its a bit silly.

Another problem is to do with the scene where Joe kills Milo's henchman, Chet by delivering an upward hand thrust punch to his nose that allegedly punches it back into his brain, killing him instantly. However, this is impossible in itself because the nose has no bone it, only cartilage, so it wouldn't be feasible to punch it back into the brain or anywhere near it! However, someone I know (who works for the NHS) has suggested that such an upper punch could potentially kill someone due to severe trauma it could cause to the brain. So, yeah never know, even though Chet's nose couldn't possibly be punched back into his brain, the trauma of the punch might have killed him instead.   

WARNING: SPOILERS COMING UP RELATING TO THE END OF THE FILM NEXT!  

The film also has one of the most ridiculous over the top action climaxes of any film where Joe fights the psychotic Milo who tries to take out Senator Baynard who ends up suffering a gruesome death as he is shot off the roof by SWAT police and is diced by a nearby police chopper he falls into the path. And this is followed by arguably daftest scene in the film where Joe dances a jig in celebration of surviving the case, which he promised to do earlier. Yeah, OK, he kept his promise but it is a pretty stupid one all the same! 

And lastly I thought the end of the film was pretty silly where Joe offers Jimmy a partnership in his detective business, which Jimmy accepts but Jimmy says he doesn't know anything being a detective and Joe says "There's nothing to it" and the only advice he offers is to have a snappy comeback ready for dealing with bad guys. THAT'S IT?!! You mean to say there's not a bit more to detective work for Jimmy to know than THAT?! I mean come on, surely to God there will be more for Jimmy to learn! So, yeah its pretty silly dialogue and it would have been better if Joe even said "Its OK, you'll pick it up as you go". That would have been better than "nothing to it". 

Anyway that's that for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Last Boy Scout is still a very entertaining action comedy even 30 years on from its original release. It is somewhat held in mixed esteem by audiences and reviewers alike but I personally think its very much underrated and has some very funny dialogue and some good (but cheesey) action scenes as well as some good chemistry between Willis and Wayans, just a pity they didn't get along during filming. 

It does of course have some issues with its plot and as mentioned some very cheesy over the top action sequences and in particular a daft climax where Joe get's away with committing multiple murders (but it is Hollywood and they were bad guys I guess!) and even assaulting a US senator! It also has the WORST opening title credits of just about any film I've seen with the crappiest theme tune I've ever heard in "Friday night's a great night for football" playing over them! Spare me. 

That aside though, there is plenty to like about the Last Boy Scout and for that I will give a rating of:

8 out 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post soon.

Until the next bye for now and have a good Easter!