The Last Boy Scout is an action comedy film starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans and directed by Tony Scott in 1991, thus reaching its 35th anniversary this year. It is exactly the type of movie you would expect from Bruce Willis in the ’90 – with the added bonus of some intrigue and P.I. work.
I don’t have much to say about the plot; just your average tale of corruption and bad guy getting his ‘just desert’ at the end of the movie. While it may be nothing new or special, it is still a decent watch. The quipy (almost typecast) character portrayed by Bruce Willis is, as usual, just darn right hilarious. Even in a situation when he and his improvised partner are under gunpoint, he still manages to lighten the mood with one-liners. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just fits so well with him as a character, slightly self-sarcastic while also maintaining a tone of aggressive wittiness.
What I will say is that even an almost banal movie from the ’90, one of those dime a dozen titles that you can grab from the DVD discount bucket from your local store (if they still sell those), still manages to at least have an inkling of character creation and development. In a flashback of the main character, the viewer can already understand much about who he is and about his past; the flashback is constituted by just a few images of him dressed as a bodyguard in an empty hallway and a woman screaming behind a closed door. Given that this moment is triggered by him seeing a poster of a senator and ends up saying “I’d never vote for you”, various relevant details may already be deduced. There was still some care and attention given to these nuances back in the ’90 – an art that is slowly fading away in my opinion.
I would give this movie a solid 6 out of 10 arrogant one-liners.