The screenwriter Shane Black wrote The Last Boy Scout and I remember watching it a lot growing up. The film has been criticised for its attitude to women recently, and it does have a few lines which wouldn’t sit well with more PC audiences of today. However, this is a kick ass- action flick with a lot of heart and dare I say it? (I like it better than Die Hard).
It’s hardboiled detective story set in the early 90s and Willis plays Joe Halenbeck a down at heels private eye who doesn’t seem popular with anyone and has a nice line in self-hatred. He ends up paired buddy movie style, with Damon Wayan’s failed football star.
The plot looks into sports gambling and political corruption and it all runs together quickly, nicely and has some nice bits of characterisation and some funny lines.
It’s also action-packed and the late Tony Scott shoots everything with his usual great visual style (it’s worth seeing the film on the recent Blu-Ray release).
It’s interesting to compare this film with the recent ‘The Nice Guys’ also written by Shane Black, and an almost carbon copy of this script 20 years later, with a few changes (Hell, if you’ve got a formula that works stick with it!)
The film is notable for an early appearance by the lovely Halle Berry (typical of this film – she’s playing a dancer in a club…)
Anyway, the film isn’t to be taken too seriously. And it’s a better action flick than a lot of the dross made today. The trailer is below…
Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. He also works as a content writer for hire and as a UK script consultant. You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb. You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk or hire him on Peopleperhour