lasttimeisaw Shoving injustice right in its audience's face, Hal Ashby's THE LAST DETAIL is an ethos-reflecting, profanity-riddled road trip of the titular detail - Navy signalman Buddusky (Nicholson) and seaman Mulhall (Young) are assigned to escort a young offender Meadows (Quaid) from Norfolk, Virginia to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Maine - that conveys hearty commiserations to the downtrodden and expresses remonstrance to the powers that be. An 18-year-old Meadows is unfairly subjected to a draconian 8-year sentence and dishonorable discharge for pilfering (in vain) 40 dollars, but Badass" Buddusky and "Mull" Mulhall can do nothing to rescind the penalty, since they are self-professed Navy "lifers", what they can actually do, is to show Meadows a good time before he is cooped up, and Robert Towne's scintillating script doesn't mince words of Meadows' bleak prospect in the brig, for a callow and innocuous boy like him, he will never pull through his pending trials and tribulations as the same person. A lofty but ponderous Randy Quaid superbly telegraphs Meadows' congenial naiveté in his Oscar-nominated coup de foudre for Actor in a Supporting Role (though fairly speaking, the triad should have shared an even-steven co-leading designation), and transubstantiates it to a force of unaffected pull that absolutely evokes compassion from even the most callous heart.The trio's hijinks entail the usual suspects of benders and attempts of making whoopee (the latter is underwent through an incredible Nichiren chant hookup and concluded with an altruistic gesture to put the kibosh on Meadow's virginity in a house of ill repute), and more thoughtful arrangements including a visit to Meadow's mother, whose non-appearance and the empty house quietly but pungently speak volumes of Meadow's ill-bred backstory, plus a wintry barbecue as Meadows' last request, where he executes his first and final crack of running away, then the ending expunges all the prior camaraderie to a terse farewell, no words, no looking back, Meadows is manhandled to a future shrouded by masculine turpitude, just like that and Ashby steely disobliges audience's anticipation of a sentimental halfway house, presents the red-tape asperity in its stead, Navy or Marine, they are all cut from the same rotten cloth. Nicholson chalks up Cannes' BEST ACTOR laurel and parlays it into an Oscar nomination with his cynical ebullience and biting disillusion that encapsulates the signs of its times, concealing his profound distress that an innocent spirit is going to be snuffed and the damning incapacitating feeling that he can do nothing about it. Otis Young, also gives a thoroughly credible job as the contrarian-turned-sympathizer with a more reserved and practical make-up, provides a sober perspective from the sidelines (often tallies with the camera arrangements centering a barnstorming Nicholson). When the snare drum rolls in the end, one wonders what does "last" stands for in its title, apparently it doesn't mean "final" because both men have no alternative but return to the military service, yet as a cinematic travelogue cogently and frankly registers America's ennui and angst in the post-Vietnam War era, "least suitable" might find more grounds in its context.

moonspinner55 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 ****

jadavix "The Last Detail" is one of those movies where some good ol' boys take a square out and show him a good time with alcohol, drugs, and sex. Of course he's a virgin, isn't much used to beer and has never touched marijuana.The problem with the movie is the character at its centre. The square is a bit too much of a dullard to keep the likes of Jack Nicholson sidelined. He doesn't really become a "character" in any tangible sense until the ending, which is quite touching. In the film's second act, however, you get a bit tired of looking at him, so much so that the blink-and-you'll- miss-it first screen appearance of the beautiful Nancy Allen seems like more of a highlight than it should.Nicholson was never a supporting actor. Someone with his unhinged energy - which gets a fine display here - has to be centre stage. We get too much of Randy Quaid, who shows us too little to care until it's almost too late.

Vidhead I just love the scene late in this film where the characters are trying to have a barbecue in that cold snowy park...everything about it wreaks of desperation; of bleakness. It is also nostalgia fuel for me...taking me back to teenage days in cold rainy parks drinking cold beers with friends...trying to get the party going when the elements are primed to crush you. No, this isn't a review, no need for that...that's been well covered here. I just need to add my words of love for this film. I probably watch it once a year but only recently got a handle on why it's like (cold) comfort food to me. It's that frozen sausage sizzle and the nostalgic chill it sends through me...go figure.