The Last Detail
Composite Score: 87.1
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Otis Young, Clifton James, Carol Kane, Michael Moriarty, Luana Anders, Kathleen Miller, and Nancy Allen
Director: Hal Ashby
Writer: Robert Towne
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Road
MPAA Rating: R
Box Office: $10.00 million worldwide
My take on Watching This Film:
The Last Detail is the film adaptation of Darryl Ponicsan’s novel of the same name, from director Hal Ashby, about a pair of career sailors tasked with escorting a dishonorable discharge from their base in Virginia to Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire. The film stars Jack Nicholson and Otis Young as Billy “Badass” Buddusky and Richard “Mule” Mulhall escorting a young Randy Quaid as Larry Meadows. It follows the trio on their week-long trek as the elder career men find a soft spot for the condemned youth and decide to show him one last good time before he goes away for eight years. Escapades in bars, restaurants, brothels, Buddhist prayer meetings, and even a hippie get-together showcase the brokenness that exists in all three men, allowing the film to more broadly examine the disillusionment of that generation and the listlessness prevalent within the main body of the American military at the close of the Vietnam War. Quaid and Nicholson both received Oscar nominations for their performances (Supporting and Lead, respectively), and Young also gives an admirable turn as the third member of their unhappy bunch. Additionally, Robert Towne’s script garnered a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. It’s a film carried by its performances, and certainly not one that you’ll want to watch over and over again due to the heaviness of its subject matter. Honest portrayals of male friendship, loneliness, and mania by the actors give the film a sense of timelessness, and each man gets his moment to shine as the film unfolds. Ultimately, it is the realism of the film that makes it great and also hard to watch. You feel at many moments throughout the film as if you’ve dropped into some private conversation or moment between these men that outsiders were never intended to see, and watching how they all turn out makes it all the more difficult. The Last Detail is a fantastically acted film that exceeds its premise by presenting an honest portrayal of the social crises of the 1970s through the experiences and relationships of these three men, earning it a place among the greats. At the same time, that realism and relatability will leave you shredded by the end and might not be an easy experience to revisit. If you’d like to check it out, though, you can currently find it streaming with ads on Tubi or available to rent on most streaming services.
