The Last Boy Scout (1991)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Shane Black (story) &
Greg Hicks (story) ...

Release Date:

13 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The goal is to survive.

Plot:

A down and out cynical detective teams up with a down and out ex-quarterback to try and solve a murder...

Plot Keywords:

Stripper | Murder | Fall From Height | Death Of Family | Gay Slur

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	Joe Hallenbeck
Damon Wayans	...	Jimmy Dix
Chelsea Field	...	Sarah Hallenbeck
Noble Willingham	...	Sheldon Marcone
Taylor Negron	...	Milo
Danielle Harris	...	Darian Hallenbeck
Halle Berry	...	Cory
Bruce McGill	...	Mike Matthews
Badja Djola	...	Alley Thug
Kim Coates	...	Chet
Chelcie Ross	...	Senator Baynard
Joe Santos	...	Bessalo
Clarence Felder	...	McCoskey
Tony Longo	...	Big Ray Walston
Frank Collison	...	Pablo

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic violence and very strong language.

Runtime:

105 min | Germany:96 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (cut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | USA:R (certificate #31522) | Netherlands:16 | Netherlands:12 (TV version) (slightly cut) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - 3911 S. Figueroa Street, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Geffen Pictures

Trivia:

The conversation between Joe and Jimmy about the $650 pants was taken from a deleted scene in Lethal Weapon (1987). Murtaugh's daughter is wearing an expensive dress for a New Year's Eve party, and he asks "It doesn't have a little TV in it?" She says no, and Murtaugh mutters "I am very old."

Goofs:

Continuity: During the first shootout, Joe's pistols occasionally fire without ejecting a cartridge.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Locker Room Kid: Billy Cole. Billy Cole.
Head Coach: The first half stunk! Open the holes up! Get in there like hogs! Like pigs!
Locker Room Kid: Billy Cole. You got a call on line three.
Head Coach: Let's go out there in this half and kick some butt! Let's get out of this town as a winner! I hate Cleveland!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Space Travellers (#5.1)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Tusk

Some of the best one-liners ever in an enjoyable action yarn

The Last Boy Scout is loud, vulgar, trashy – and great entertainment. Bruce Willis plays Joe Hallenbeck, a disgruntled former Secret Service agent struggling with personal demons, a dysfunctional home life and an unsuccessful attempt at living as a private detective. When his newest client, Cory (Halle Berry), is murdered, her boyfriend (Damon Wayans) joins Hallenback to find out why she was killed. What follows is typically Tony Scott – accentuated action, male bonding and loads of violent, gruesome deaths followed by outbursts of comic one-liners.

Written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) and directed by Scott (Top Gun), Last Boy Scout works thanks to Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. The script is stupid, borderline ludicrous – quickly stretching beyond believability, ending in an explosive (somewhat literally) climax that resorts to all the clichés of the genre. However, there is some self-satire to be found within the material. Villains are referred to consistently as "the bad guys." Loads of genre clichés are fooled with, spun into jokes – the car chases and action sequences become satirical in nature, whilst the personal life of Hallenbeck – something that might normally be sugar-coated in another genre film – is totally f***ed up, leaving us with a pre-teen daughter who uses profanity like it's going out of style, a cheating wife, and a weary father who stopped giving a crap about it all a long time ago.

It's the stuff like this that makes Last Boy Scout succeed past its own sources. Shane Black is excellent at writing this type of stuff, and it really shows. Willis is given the best one-liners of his entire career, making Die Hard's crackling dialog look like child's play. Willis in particular is so good, and so at ease with his character, that his cynical and edgy performance makes the film worth seeing – and heck, even worth owning. It's the ultimate Stupid Male Action Film with Great One-Liners and Loads of Action, a genre I'd like to hereby declare official.