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The Last Detail
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The Last Detail (1973) More at IMDbPro »

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The Last Detail (1973) -- Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison but decide to show him one last good time along the way.

Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   5,991 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Hal Ashby
Writers:
Robert Towne (screenplay)
Darryl Ponicsan (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Last Detail on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 December 1973 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
No *#@!!* Navy's going to give some poor **!!@* kid eight years in the #@!* brig without me taking him out for the time of his *#@!!* life.
Plot:
Two Navy men are ordered to bring a young offender to prison but decide to show him one last good time along the way. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(7 articles)
DVD: Review: Lookin’ To Get Out!
 (From The AV Club. 30 June 2009, 10:01 PM, PDT)

Cat Stevens To Perform At Hal Ashby A.M.P.A.S. Tribute On June 25
 (From CinemaRetro. 20 June 2009, 3:11 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
The Navy the Navy still doesn't want us to see more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jack Nicholson ... SM1 Billy 'Bad Ass' Buddusky
Otis Young ... GM1 'Mule' Mulhall

Randy Quaid ... Seaman Larry Meadows
Clifton James ... M.A.A.

Carol Kane ... Young Whore
Michael Moriarty ... Marine O.D.
Luana Anders ... Donna
Kathleen Miller ... Annette
Nancy Allen ... Nancy
Gerry Salsberg ... Henry
Don McGovern ... Bartender
Pat Hamilton ... Madame
Michael Chapman ... Taxi Driver
Jim Henshaw ... Sweek
Derek McGrath ... Nichiren Shoshu Member
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Additional Details

Runtime:
103 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Johnny Hooker in The Sting (1973) (ultimately played by Robert Redford), to appear in this film, which was written by his good friend Robert Towne. Nicholson thought that The Sting was too commercial. Both he and Redford were nominated as Best Actor of 1973 at the Academy Awards, losing out to 'Jack Lemmon' in Save the Tiger (1973). more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, prayer beads include two strands which hang on the left hand and three strands on the right while chanting with palms pressed together. When Donna is seen in profile chanting for Meadows, her prayer beads appear opposite from the correct arrangement with three strands on the left hand. more
Quotes:
Young Whore: Jesus Christ! That's what I call quick. more
Movie Connections:
Features Castle Keep (1969) more
Soundtrack:
Never Let The Left Hand Know more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
50 out of 50 people found the following comment useful:-
The Navy the Navy still doesn't want us to see, 13 February 2004
Author: AdamKey (teslaman62@yahoo.com) from San Diego, Calif., USA

Jack Nicholson is a performer with the rare ability to completely immerse himself in a chosen role and convince the audience of the stark reality of his performance. Playing Navy Signalman First Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky in Hal Ashby's 1973 film rendition of Darryl Ponicsan's novel, "The Last Detail" is a sterling example of that uncommon talent. Rough-edged but understanding, crude but compassionate, Buddusky and fellow "lifer" Gunner's Mate First Class "Mule" Mulhall (skillfully portrayed by Otis Young) are "detailed" as armed Shore Patrol guards to escort a young sailor, Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) from Norfolk, Va. to a naval prison in Portsmouth, NH in order to serve an eight-year sentence after being convicted at a court-martial of petty theft.

The five-day journey northward is an adventure for all three. Sympathizing with Meadows's plight, apprised of his utter naivete and realizing his sentence far exceeds the severity of the offense, Buddusky and Mulhall conduct their version of a cram course in traditional male rights of passage--ranging from a drunken spree in Washington, D.C. to duking it out with Marines in New York City and getting their charge sexually initiated with a Boston prostitute--if for no other reason than to give him some taste of what he will not be experiencing for a long time and to teach him in some small way to assert himself as an individual.

Darryl Ponicsan's novel (which hit the racks at practically the same time the film had been released--the book's ending is quite different and, to me, is much less believable than the film's) was initially hailed as a polemic against what many believed was the cold indifference of the military establishment. However, since that time, it has been judged more a compelling "slice of life" drama about the complexities of everyday human behavior and how it is shaped by our own decisions and by entities beyond our immediate purview. And, more importantly, it forces us to think about how our ever-more-complicated society is increasingly unable to find ways to help its young people constructively mark transition into adulthood.

"The Last Detail" is a sadly overlooked but superb blend of pathos, ribald bittersweet humor, hard-edged '70s realism and insightful and subtle human drama, one that brashly and subtly brought back many personal memories of my Navy hitch and a work that says something to all of us by merely focusing upon a small "detail" of a sadly overlooked and unappreciated decade that was alternately (and simultaneously) bleak yet hopeful.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Anyone else think this was Nicholson's best performance? scottmc1971
where can I find this movie? mda-11
Could they have helped Meadows? kag2-1
the look of 70's films pjbrubak
Most Under-rated 1970's Films? kag2-1
can someone post the ending? i watched this 2 years ago and i forgot... angiejacobs04
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