The Last Boy Scout
1.5/4
Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Danielle Harris, Noble Willingham, Taylor Negron, Chelsea Field
Rated R for Graphic Violence and Very Strong Language
Action comedies are supposed to be fun. A good one will raise the adrenaline while keeping you laughing. "True Lies" is a good example. So is "Rush Hour." "The Last Boy Scout," starring the action star of the early nineties, Bruce Willis, is mean-spirited bore.
Joe Hallenbeck (Willis) is a washed up private detective (Bogie must be rolling in his grave) who has just discovered that his wife (Field) is cheating on him with his best friend (Bruce McGill). But when said friend ends up dead in an explosion after giving Joe a case involving a harassed stripper (a pre-famous Halle Berry), he ends up getting roped into a conspiracy with an ex-football star, Jimmy Dix (Wayans) involving corrupt politicians and a football team owner.
This movie is unpleasant from the first scene. A football player brutally guns down his opponents on the way to scoring a touchdown and then blows his brains out. The two lead characters are depressed misanthropes who need to go to rehab (Dix is a pill-popper and a coke head). The obligatory barbs that they trade (some of which are clever) aren't funny, they're mean.
After "Die Hard," Bruce Willis was the guy to call to play a wisecracking action hero. He has screen presence and can look tough while firing a big gun. Plus, he's a vulnerable action hero; he's not like Schwarzenegger who blows away bad guys without batting an eye. When he gets hit, it hurts. But while Willis is a decent actor, he can't save this movie. And it doesn't help that Wayans is a bland sidekick. Danielle Harris is good as Joe's foul-mouthed daughter Darian, but she has some rough edges. Noble Willingham is enjoying himself as the villain, although his henchman, a nasty man named Milo (Negron) is a gay stereotype.
Tony Scott has chosen the wrong tone for this movie. Instead of the 100 minutes of fun that it wants to be, it is more like the Mel Gibson thriller "Payback." That movie wasn't very good either, but crafting an uber-bleak action movie isn't the problem. They have their place. The problem is that it makes the story more lame than it already is and causes the jokes to become mean-spirited rather than funny.
I'll admit that the film does pick up in the final act. The action finally comes and it's well choreographed by Scott. But the rest of the movie is so lame and depressing that it's really a chore to get through. There are also some obvious scripting problems, like in the scene where Darian is cussing out her father. Their repartee is obviously scripted and never feels real.
I always figured this would be a loud and dumb action movie. I was right, but it's also pretty damn depressing.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Danielle Harris, Noble Willingham, Taylor Negron, Chelsea Field
Rated R for Graphic Violence and Very Strong Language
Action comedies are supposed to be fun. A good one will raise the adrenaline while keeping you laughing. "True Lies" is a good example. So is "Rush Hour." "The Last Boy Scout," starring the action star of the early nineties, Bruce Willis, is mean-spirited bore.
Joe Hallenbeck (Willis) is a washed up private detective (Bogie must be rolling in his grave) who has just discovered that his wife (Field) is cheating on him with his best friend (Bruce McGill). But when said friend ends up dead in an explosion after giving Joe a case involving a harassed stripper (a pre-famous Halle Berry), he ends up getting roped into a conspiracy with an ex-football star, Jimmy Dix (Wayans) involving corrupt politicians and a football team owner.
This movie is unpleasant from the first scene. A football player brutally guns down his opponents on the way to scoring a touchdown and then blows his brains out. The two lead characters are depressed misanthropes who need to go to rehab (Dix is a pill-popper and a coke head). The obligatory barbs that they trade (some of which are clever) aren't funny, they're mean.
After "Die Hard," Bruce Willis was the guy to call to play a wisecracking action hero. He has screen presence and can look tough while firing a big gun. Plus, he's a vulnerable action hero; he's not like Schwarzenegger who blows away bad guys without batting an eye. When he gets hit, it hurts. But while Willis is a decent actor, he can't save this movie. And it doesn't help that Wayans is a bland sidekick. Danielle Harris is good as Joe's foul-mouthed daughter Darian, but she has some rough edges. Noble Willingham is enjoying himself as the villain, although his henchman, a nasty man named Milo (Negron) is a gay stereotype.
Tony Scott has chosen the wrong tone for this movie. Instead of the 100 minutes of fun that it wants to be, it is more like the Mel Gibson thriller "Payback." That movie wasn't very good either, but crafting an uber-bleak action movie isn't the problem. They have their place. The problem is that it makes the story more lame than it already is and causes the jokes to become mean-spirited rather than funny.
I'll admit that the film does pick up in the final act. The action finally comes and it's well choreographed by Scott. But the rest of the movie is so lame and depressing that it's really a chore to get through. There are also some obvious scripting problems, like in the scene where Darian is cussing out her father. Their repartee is obviously scripted and never feels real.
I always figured this would be a loud and dumb action movie. I was right, but it's also pretty damn depressing.
You know something can be mean-spirited and funny which this film absolutely is
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