June 14, 1990
THE LAST BOY SCOUT
Screenplay by Shane Black
Synopsis by Brian Aldrich
BILLY COLE is a football player with the L.A. Stallions who shoots a bunch of players with a gun while on the field and then kills himself. His pain pills have been laced with PCP. The owner of the team, CONRAD MARCON, gets a phone call from a mysterious voice telling him that the Cole incident is a warning.
JOSEPH R. HALLENBECK, a former Secret Service agent, is a worn-out, mean, grouchy loser who now works as a private investigator. His friend and associate, MIKE MILLER, calls him with a job to guard a dancer named CORY. When Joe stops home to pick up a few things, he finds Mike in bed with his wife. After Joe kicks the shit out of Mike, Mike stumbles to his car and it blows up. Joe goes to guard Cory, a dancer at a strip joint. Her boyfriend, JIMMY, a former football player with the Stallions who was busted for drugs and gambling, doesn't get along with Joe. Two HITMEN follow Cory and Jimmy. They kill Cory and are killed by Joe. Joe and Jimmy team up to find the mastermind behind her murder.
They search Cory's apartment and find a photo of MARCON and SENATOR BAYNARD (the crooked politician who framed Joe and ruined his career) having a meeting. They figure out that Marcon and Baynard were conspiring to do something and Cory was blackmailing them. Somehow Mike was involved in it and he was murdered as well as Cory. Two more HITMEN show up and try to get the photo from them, but Joe works it out so that the two hitmen are killed by their own bomb. At Joe's home, he gives Jimmy a gun, but their partnership is over when Joe finds Jimmy doing some cocaine. At home, Jimmy is visited by another two HITMEN who Jimmy is able to kill before they kill him. Meanwhile, Joe is kidnapped by MILO, Marcon's assistant, and framed for the murder of a cop. Marcon tells Joe the whole truth--Marcon is trying to get football gambling legalized in all 50 states. Mafia hood, JIMMY THE BARBER, is his opposition. As well, Baynard refused the bribe and wants more money, so Marcon is going to kill Baynard and make it look like Joe did it.
Jimmy finds SARAH, Joe's adulterous wife, and they team up to find Joe. By this time, the LAPD are looking all over for Joe for the police murder. Jimmy and Sarah follow Baynard's BODYGUARDS to the site where Milo and Joe are going to switch a briefcase filled with bribe money for one with a bomb. The switch is made and the bodyguards take off for the stadium and to Baynard where the bomb is supposed to be detonated, but Jimmy shows up in time to kill a bunch of hoods and rescue Joe. Milo gets away and kidnaps Sarah. Joe and Jimmy stop the bodyguards and head for the football stadium. They shoot their way into Marcon's office and find Marcon holding Sarah hostage. Now, Marcon reveals that Jimmy the Barber was his ally all along and they had planned to rob the TV networks of their bribe money. Marcon still plans to kill Baynard by having Milo shoot him in the stands making it look like the work of a sniper. Joe and Jimmy create a diversion and kill a bunch of hoods. Marcon escapes, finds the briefcase full of money in the bodyguard's limo which Joe and Jimmy drove to the stadium, and flees. Meanwhile, Joe goes after Milo, hiding behind a billboard and Jimmy tries to get to Baynard to warn him. Jimmy is wounded by hoods, but is able to jump on the Stallion's horse mascot, ride to Baynard, and throw a pass which knocks him down, saving him from Milo's bullet. Joe has a brawl with Milo behind the sign and takes a slug from a rifleman in a police copter. Joe kills Milo. Sarah shoots at the copter to keep them from killing Joe. After everything cools off and is explained, Joe and Sarah reconcile, Joe and Jimmy become partners and give the bribe money to Cancer Research. Marcon opens the briefcase and it blows up--it is the wrong briefcase.
Summary Criticism: The characters are charming and sympathetic. The dialogue is crisp and humorous. The plot is innovative, yet familiar. The script is everything you'd expect for 1.75 million. However, it is still just a buddy comedy-action pic with jokes and blood.
The Last Boy Scout - imdb
The Last Boy Scout - wiki
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