In 1973, newcomer director Hal Ashby and up and coming screenwriter Robert Towne adapted Darryl Ponicsan's 1970 naval themed novel The Last Detail into a motion picture. Starring Jack Nicholson in the lead role, the film garnered largely great reviews and prestigious awards, including a Best Actor award for Nicholson at Cannes and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for then newcomer Randy Quaid. Often seen as a quintessential rebellious 70s dramedy, this feature is often sighted as one of Ashby and Nicholson's best works to date, and it's easy to see why through its raw nature.
The film follows career sailors Buddusky (Nicholson) and Mulhall (Otis Young) who are assigned to escort a young emotionally withdrawn recruit named Meadows (Quaid) from their Virginia base to Portsmouth Naval Prison in Maine. At its core, The Last Detail is a thoroughly enticing road movie from start to finish thanks in large part to Towne's bravely profane script and the lead cast's unabashed performances. As the film goes on, we can see how much Buddusky and Mulhall resent their task based on the insipid crime, and that alone makes their goal of showing Meadows a real good time before his imprisonment truly human and relatable. In honoring the bonds between manhood, so much adventure and new discoveries occur between the trio, whether it be getting Meadows drunk for the first time, attending a Buddhist community, or even getting the young man laid. There is rarely a dull moment to be found in our lead's journey, which makes its inevitable conclusion all the more saddening once it's all over. It's not often when you root for officers and recruits in such dire situations.
Going into the actual performances, Jack Nicholson gives this movie its much needed edge, which contrasts well with the strict orders he's given for something so insignificant. In addition, Nicholson and Otis Young share great chemistry as Buddusky and Mulhall in how much conflict and resolution comes up in their differing attitudes yet similar choices of fate. That being said, Randy Quaid nearly steals the show as Meadows, as he brings genuine devastation through subtle gestures and facial acting, even when his character is having fun. Much like how this film is a critique on systemic corruption, its themes of human injustice are shown through Quaid's reasonably depressed state of being, and it's shocking how well he did compared to his later comedic roles. Other notable performers only appear when a scene calls for it, but they all serve their roles in showing people at their most cruel and most endearing in different ways. When the right actors are chosen for such a small group of core characters, you get some of the most intrinsically real performances out there.
As far as other notable qualities go, Ashby's direction keeps the film grounded in the cold winter season with brutal realism that fits the film's reflectively cynical nature. This film marked legendary cinematographer Michael Chapman's first venture into that field, and his work captures an almost quasi documentary approach to natural light, which further adds into the tension of any given sequence focusing on our leads' rauctious escapades. The editing contributed to Robert C. Jones lets each scene play out as long as it needs while making strong usage of dramatic jump cuts and looming scenic transitions to show how much time is passing without much of a care given by Buddusky or Meadows. Lastly, while only used sporadically, Johnny Mandel's somber score allows us to empathize with the aforementioned passage of time that makes this feature such a minimally harrowing human experience. So much attention to detail and care was placed into capturing the natural side of human discourse through talented filmmaking, and that's just part of what makes this film special.
To this day, it's remarkable how little fame The Last Detail has garnered, since its reasonably cynical content, powerful performances and strong low key filmmaking earn it as a definitive staple of early '70s cinematic mastery. If you're a fan of Ashby, Nicholson or overlooked gems from appraised decades in cinema, this film is a must watch for anyone out there, and there is still a lot to get out of its critiques on the questionable power moves laid on us by those who don't know any better. It has been 50 years since its release and it has rightfully aged even better than beforehand.
The film follows career sailors Buddusky (Nicholson) and Mulhall (Otis Young) who are assigned to escort a young emotionally withdrawn recruit named Meadows (Quaid) from their Virginia base to Portsmouth Naval Prison in Maine. At its core, The Last Detail is a thoroughly enticing road movie from start to finish thanks in large part to Towne's bravely profane script and the lead cast's unabashed performances. As the film goes on, we can see how much Buddusky and Mulhall resent their task based on the insipid crime, and that alone makes their goal of showing Meadows a real good time before his imprisonment truly human and relatable. In honoring the bonds between manhood, so much adventure and new discoveries occur between the trio, whether it be getting Meadows drunk for the first time, attending a Buddhist community, or even getting the young man laid. There is rarely a dull moment to be found in our lead's journey, which makes its inevitable conclusion all the more saddening once it's all over. It's not often when you root for officers and recruits in such dire situations.
Going into the actual performances, Jack Nicholson gives this movie its much needed edge, which contrasts well with the strict orders he's given for something so insignificant. In addition, Nicholson and Otis Young share great chemistry as Buddusky and Mulhall in how much conflict and resolution comes up in their differing attitudes yet similar choices of fate. That being said, Randy Quaid nearly steals the show as Meadows, as he brings genuine devastation through subtle gestures and facial acting, even when his character is having fun. Much like how this film is a critique on systemic corruption, its themes of human injustice are shown through Quaid's reasonably depressed state of being, and it's shocking how well he did compared to his later comedic roles. Other notable performers only appear when a scene calls for it, but they all serve their roles in showing people at their most cruel and most endearing in different ways. When the right actors are chosen for such a small group of core characters, you get some of the most intrinsically real performances out there.
As far as other notable qualities go, Ashby's direction keeps the film grounded in the cold winter season with brutal realism that fits the film's reflectively cynical nature. This film marked legendary cinematographer Michael Chapman's first venture into that field, and his work captures an almost quasi documentary approach to natural light, which further adds into the tension of any given sequence focusing on our leads' rauctious escapades. The editing contributed to Robert C. Jones lets each scene play out as long as it needs while making strong usage of dramatic jump cuts and looming scenic transitions to show how much time is passing without much of a care given by Buddusky or Meadows. Lastly, while only used sporadically, Johnny Mandel's somber score allows us to empathize with the aforementioned passage of time that makes this feature such a minimally harrowing human experience. So much attention to detail and care was placed into capturing the natural side of human discourse through talented filmmaking, and that's just part of what makes this film special.
To this day, it's remarkable how little fame The Last Detail has garnered, since its reasonably cynical content, powerful performances and strong low key filmmaking earn it as a definitive staple of early '70s cinematic mastery. If you're a fan of Ashby, Nicholson or overlooked gems from appraised decades in cinema, this film is a must watch for anyone out there, and there is still a lot to get out of its critiques on the questionable power moves laid on us by those who don't know any better. It has been 50 years since its release and it has rightfully aged even better than beforehand.