The Last Boy Scout -They don’t make action films like this any more

I remember when ‘The Last Boy Scout’ was released.  If my memory serves me correctly, it was considered a box off flop.  However, I enjoyed it and, now I come to watch it again over twenty years later, I find that today’s online reaction seems to back up my feelings towards it.  In other words, it’s actually quite fun.

Bruce Willis plays... well, Bruce Willis really.  This could almost be another Die Hard movie by another name.  He’s a wise-cracking alcoholic cop (or ex cop here, to be fair) who ends up taking on the bad guys.  This time he’s investigating the double murder of both his best friend and the client he was meant to protect, but whereas he tended to do things on his own in Die Hard, he’s ably assisted by a disgraced football player, played by Damon Waynes.

The first thing you have to know before you consider watching this is that it’s kind of tongue in cheek.  Today’s action movies seem to be super serious (with the possible exception of the ‘Expendables’ series), so if you’re looking for something tough and gritty, you’ll probably find this one a little too far-fetched.

It certainly has its plus points.  Obviously, there are plenty of shoot outs and car chases, not to mention villains who are uber-villainous and strip clubs to arrange seedy underworld meetings in.  But the film’s major selling point is the chemistry between Willis and Waynes.  They really do play off each other well and the dialogue between them is the very definition of banter.

It is a little far fetched though.  I will always remember a character being thrown off a bridge, landing on a car, only to get up and wander off like nothing had happened.  I think that probably goes down as one of the most ‘hardest to survive’ falls in film history!  Don’t expect too much realism here; like I say – tongue in cheek!

Having looked up some details online recently, I see that the production was apparently ‘fraught with problems’ behind the scenes.  There are plenty of rumours surrounding what happened on set and I don’t know how many are true.  However, I still think that the finished product is actually something pretty good fun and very watchable (if you’re looking for a pretty implausible buddy type cop film).

And, if you’re into internet rumours – look up the one about the squirrel, Bruce Willis’ trailer and the hair-piece.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that