The Last Boy Scout (13 December 1991)
directed by Tony Scott
starring Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Noble Willingham, Taylor Negron, Danielle Harris, Halle Berry, Bruce McGill
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MPAA rating: Studio: Geffen Pictures, Silver Pictures, Warner Brothers Script: Shane Black, Greg Hicks Music: Michael Kamen Running time: 105 minutes Suggested retail price: $19.95 (US) Tags: Action; corruption; football; NFL; secret service Tactical strength: [4/10]
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for graphic violence and very strong language
The Last Boy Scout tries to look like a Die Hard movie but never quite delivers a satisfying stream of action. Scriptwriter Shayne Black (Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2) wraps a new name around Willis's Die Hard character, but you still get John McClain's near-monotone delivery of vulgarity and one liners. But you don't expect great acting from a Bruce Willis movie -- just non-stop action, a high body count, and an occasional laugh. Usually look-alike movies try to give you more action and more bodies than the original, but The Last Boy Scout occasionally puts the ultra-violent action aside and tries to make us care about Willis's character.
Willis plays former secret service agent, Joe Hallenbeck, who has a varied history in the secret service. In the backstory, Hallenbeck had taken bullets for a President and punched a senator when Hallenbeck found the senator whipping a girl in a hotel room. Hallenbeck lost his government job and set up shop as a private investigator. As The Last Boy Scout starts, Willis takes a job protecting Cory (Halle Berry), an exotic dancer who has received murder threats. Cory has a tape recording that incriminates an NFL team owner for plotting to kill a senator -- coincidentally the same senator that Hallenbeck punched. Cory wants to use the tape as blackmail to get her boyfriend Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) reinstated on the team.
Now, who would ever have cast Damon Wayans as the tough sidekick in an action movie? Director Tony Scott expects us to accept Wayans as a pro-football quarterback with "the best arm in the league," who lost his job for using drugs. Wayans probably could have added a lot of comic relief, but Wayans doesn't have the talent of Samuel L. Jackson for countering Willis's apathy. Instead, the script merely provides Wayans lame responses to Willis's one-liners and weak jabs at Willis's character that Wayans delivers like lines from a Saturday Night Live skit.
Hallenbeck's protection and Dix's bravado don't do Cory much good, as the thugs quickly gun her down after a brief car chase. Hallenbeck and Dix reluctantly team up to avenge Cory and to thwart the assassination of the senator.
The successful formula of the Die Hard movies always pits Willis against a high-class, intelligent foe. The villains in Boy Scout -- corrupt politicians, evil pro-football team owners, and a few hired thugs -- hardly make the few explosions, hostage situations, and other action scenes interesting enough to ever believe that Willis's character ever really faced any real danger. Black must have realized that his story line wouldn't grip the audience, so he gives Willis a vulgar, rebellious 13-year-old daughter (Danielle Harris) that Willis has to drag around and protect for about a quarter of the movie. When all else fails, throw in a cute kid -- ensure some audience sympathy. Alas, the kid's just as vulgar as her father, and you only feel sorry for yourself for spending the time to watch.
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