The Last Detail (1973)

Alternately funny, ribald, rude, candid, thoughtful and occasionally boring odyssey of three sailors on liberty. Signalman First Class Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Gunner's Mate First Class Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort young Seaman Meadows (Randy Quaid) from Norfolk, Virginia to a naval prison in Maine; Meadows, a chronic shoplifter, attempted to steal $40 from a polio charity collection box and was handed a stiff eight-year sentence in the brig ("Six with two years off"). Getting to know each other on the train heading north, Buddusky and Mulhall take pity on their virginal captive and decide to make the most of their free time with some carousing in Washington, D.C. and in New York City. A few of their pit-stops--to a bar to get loaded, to a men's room to pick a fight with a few Marines, and finally to a whorehouse--are de rigueur for a military piece (one almost expects it); however, a side-trip to a Buddhist chanting session is rather disarming, and the three men look both ridiculous and wonderful while cooking wieners outdoors in the dead of winter. Written by Oscar-nominated Robert Towne, adapting Darryl Ponicsan's novel, the film has to go a long way on dialogue, and some of Towne's chatty passages just feel like filler. Still, while the picture isn't exactly witty, it does have some very funny scenes, and the acting is terrific (Nicholson and Quaid were both Oscar-nominated--Quaid in what is probably the best acting of his career). Michael Chapman's "colorless" color cinematography took some criticism in 1973 for being too dark, though it looks great today. Hal Ashby's too-leisurely direction is prodded by amiable and subtly moving moments. **1/2 from ****

Jack Nicholson steals the show with his superb portrayal of gruff navy lifer Billy "Badass" Budduskey. A profane, bawdy, anti-hero (but with a heart), he dominates every interaction. Playing Budduskey, Nicholson creates one of the most memorable (if not entirely likable) characters in film. The story is simple, and far from happy. Budduskey and another lifer named "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young) are ordered to transport a nerdy recruit from the base in Norfolk, Virginia to the brig in Maine. The recruit/prisoner (Randy Quaid) got an insanely harsh 8-year sentence for petty theft. Taking pity, and with a multi-day schedule, Budduskey and Mulhall show the kid a good time - mostly beer and women - before their inevitable arrival at the brig. Yet for all their attempts at diversion they never erase the clouds of emptiness that hover above all of them. The movie also carries a message about injustice and risk. These two lifers disdain the injustice they are taking part in. They doubt the kid can survive in a brig with hardened criminals. Still, they don't stick their necks out. If they did, they might jeopardize their "twenty," the retirement pay (at 50% of their salary) they will soon be eligible for once they've served a full 20 years. Jack Nicholson was already well known when this film came out in 1973, and he quickly followed this effort with two stellar films "Chinatown" and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." So "Last Detail" never got the attention it deserves. But as elsewhere, Jack Nicholson dominates every scene with his personality, antics, and off-beat style. Young and Quaid provide solid support, and the result is a very memorable film.

One of the long list of excellent realist films of the 1970's, Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid are outstanding in this story of a young seaman convicted of petty theft by the military and escorted to prison to serve an eight year sentence. Directed by Hal Ashby, Nicholson and Young are the two navy men duty bound to ensure the young seaman, Randy Quaid, arrives at the prison. The young recruit is unwise to the ways of the world. Raised on the wrong side of the tracks, he developed a habit of stealing but was never in serious trouble. Now, he is faced with a prison sentence after making the mistake of trying to take money from a donation box. Unfortunate for him, the charity was the favourite pastime of the wife of the base commander. Nicholson and Young soon realize that the military authorities have consigned a meek, and obedient puppy dog to time in hell. With the reality of the severe sentence handed out to the youth, his two military colleagues embark on a journey that he will remember. That's what the movie is about but more than that, it shows the two navy petty officers conflicted by the ordeal of having to fulfil "the last detail" of an unjust sentence. They feel there is nothing they can do and to be honest, the military are paid to carry out orders; not question those orders. The men in charge of this mission are horrified at the task, particularly Nicholson. Young expresses the fear that they could ruin their careers, taken down by the base authorities if they try to right the wrong. What we see are the two men trying to alleviate the young man's pain. But they know it's a short-term fling before a long journey through a dark night of humiliation, loss of freedom and brutality. In the space of a few days, they have fun drinking, eating and whoring and in the process try to teach the youth how to become a man. What they do accomplish is to help the young man with a few lessons as he learns to stand up for himself, to throw a punch when threatened and to send back food that is not to his satisfaction. The "last detail" is carried out. The petty officers may be given low marks by others of their generation or a later generation for not trying to abort the mission. However sad that might be, it does reflect the reality of life. I was moved by the performance of the three stars.

There's so much I like about this movie. I was in the Navy when I first saw it and loved how it realistically captured the enlisted reality. The dread you felt when an office or Chief came down the hall looking for volunteers. And you were trapped into some stupid detail. As Mule and Badass drag along Larry to prison forever, they stop along the way to make sure he gets some life experiences before being locked up. Larry matures enough that by the end he can speak up about his unmelted cheese and attempt a getaway. The dialog is perfect -- the slang, the intonation, and the attitudes have been captures. The acting is effortless.