The Last Boy Scout, 1991

The late 80's and 1990's (the whole 90's) brought to theaters a certain kind of film... looking, sounding, feeling like a copy of a copy of a copy. 3rd and 4th generation action movies were being made, flooding the market and, to be sure, making money at the same time.

You can't blame the writers. You certainly can't blame the actors (though you want to... couldn't they have just said "No." to the paycheck? Of course not.). You would have to blame the Twenty Year Old Producer with Dad's money... or the guy who hadn't had a hit in a while, but had a great script from Steven De Souza just sitting there, waiting to be made.

It's hard to start, here. Because the action film has only gotten louder and more extravegant... but the general idea has always stayed the same, in any of its forms. Cops and Robbers, Westerns, Spy, Hit Man, Mob films have mixed and matched, borrowed, copied, stole... all from each other... and to go back to see who started it all would just lead you in circles. Personally, I think it started with the Western, but that's just my opinion.

Tony Scott is the brother of Ridley Scott. They run a production company called Scott Free, and have produced many films including Clay Pigeons, along with a host of advertising (including that neat Apple ad from the 80's). Both have also made feature films, though Ridley's been doing it a spot longer.

Tony Scott's first real feature was The Hunger, starring Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie. Never saw this one, though it's become a cult film, of a sort, and not all because of Bowie (though he's a big part of it).

In 1986, Scott gave the Air Force a much needed boost in morale and recruitment with Top Gun. It put him on the map, for real, earning the most money in 1986 with $176 million. Movie execs like that, when movies make lots of money. That's a little known fact.

Since the film made an enormous amount of dough, they gave him a sequel to what execs were hoping would become another great franchise, like Indiana Jones or Star Wars... but not really like them. Maybe more like Gremlins... I don't know. Beverly Hills Cop II came out a year later, in 1987, and became the third top grossing movie of '87. Scott was on a role. His flashy camera work, directing style, editing and dark vision came through, specifically on this film, and people started adapting their film styles accordingly. Kind of.

With Beverly Hills Cop II, we can see a specific vision emerging. There's a look, from here on out with Scott's films, that is a constant... using shadows, blacks, atmosphere, even in pedestrian shots of characters sitting at a bar. The underlying mood of the film never changes.

We'll see that mood in his next two films, specifically in Revenge. Not so much in Days of Thunder, which always felt, to me, like Top Gun II, except with racing cars.

But, what Scott showed us with these films was his ability to adapt to the production. Days of Thunder must have been a very difficult shoot, though again, the subject matter was very similar; top racer, top pilot, etc.

In 1991 he teamed up with Bruce Willis, who was fresh off a ton of movies in the early 90's. Die Hard 2 (1990), Look Who's Talking Too (1990), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Mortal Thoughts (1991), Hudson Hawk (1991) and Billy Bathgate (1991). The Last Boy Scout was a re-invention of his John McClane character, except from the gutter.

Penned by Shane Black (who gave us Lethal Weapon in 1987) and Greg Hicks (his only writing credit), it's hard to figure out exactly what Scott and Willis saw in this film.

The script itself is very formulaic, with little originality. I got the sense that Shane was sick of Lethal Weapon and wanted to get back to basics when it came with cops or private detectives and the evils they face. Alcohol, wives, guns, C-4, bad guys, stuffed animals... you know, the usual.

It's hard not to think that Shane Black had either Eddie Murphy or Damon Wayans in mind when he wrote the role of Jimmy Dix. Though I can see where Wayans ability to improvise came through in some places. Most of the film is 'my dick is bigger' dialog, though I have to admit there are some great one-liners. I attribute most of them to Black, though I'm sure that, again, Wayans came up with some of them on the spot.

After some of the explosions in Beverly Hills Cop II, along with the action scenes in Top Gun, going into this film, even in 1991, you could expect the action scenes in this film to kick ass... and they did. I don't know if it's caring, or attention to detail, or what, but Scott knows how to blow shit up. The gun fights are shot very well, too.

All in all, story wise, the story is contrived and predictable but fun, never-the-less... which is the curse of 90's action films. You can't not watch them. I don't think it's Shane Black's best work, and I think it's on par with Scott's work, for the most part (except for True Romance, which is his best film).

Acting.

Bruce Willis is one of my favorites. I've both hated and loved his films in the past, which is the case for the big action stars. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Gibson... a host more... stars that make good and bad decisions. Willis has made them both... and I take what I like, leave the rest.

In this film he's grittier than his other films. In fact, I think this is his grittiest character. He plays it well enough, but I think, sometimes, he comes off forced... trying to be the down and out "I care about nothing" detective... but, again... you have to take this type of film in stride. These characters are out of date. They're the wretched refuse... they're forgotten heroes who's lives just suck.

All in all, I think the action genre suits Willis completely, and this is another notch in the 'good' column.

Since In Living Color, I have not liked Damon Wayan's work. This role is ok for him... it's not fantastic, but it's ok. The dialog suits him, for certain, and he plays the character quite well. I think the early nineties swallowed up and spit out actors like him by the mouthful... even though he had In Living Color behind him, with a few years of good work. His other films are ok, especially the ones before this one... but his work to date has all been down hill, especially his other television work.

Noble Willingham was pretty good in his role... but his character is pretty much the same from film to film... so there is a certain type of genuine article to him... though you've seen him dozens of times before.

Taylor Negron plays the 2nd in command bad guy. It's funny, this character, Milo... he's a serious bad-ass, and I dug the way Black wrote him as someone with manners who's a bad guy at heart... but the guy not only comes off as a bad guy with manners... but a bad guy with manners who's gay. Just a very strange combination of personality traits that I found funny, and at the same time... I thought it was pretty cool.

This was one of the Joel Silver action films of the 1990's... and it's got his name all over it. The production, the slick sets, the explosions (with the help of Scott)... all of it is pure Silver. Also, Michael Levy is in there, as Producer. He's got an impressive history as well, with Die Hard 2, Predator 2, Ricochet, Demolition Man and, just recently, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and K-Pax.

It's funny... but the cinematographer, Ward Russell, dropped off the map for a few years between films. He'd helped on the productions of two of Scott's earlier films, Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop II, and then went on to shoot Days of Thunder for him in 1990. He also shot The Last Boy Scout... and you have to wonder how Scott has managed to keep a similar feel to his films, since Russell hasn't worked with Scott since. I think some of the work in Boy Scout is some of the most stylized of Scott's career... especially some of the football stadium action shots, some of the fire fights and the explosions... all shot with a beautiful clarity and eye.

Russell, after Boy Scout, dropped out for five years, before re-surfacing with Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace. I guess that was a 'take what you can get' type of situation. But, a scant two years later, Russell went on to shoot one of the most anticipated movies on 1998, X-Files. So, I guess you never can tell. He hasn't worked since, but that doesn't mean anything when you have a talent and particular skill.

The film is a cheesy action film with good effects, decent dialog and decent acting. Watch it for what it is.

go to top of page