The Last Detail

Slice-of-life drama about post-Vietnam military guys on the eastern home front

Two Petty Officers in Norfolk, Virginia (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young), are assigned a shore patrol detail to escort a naïve 18-year-old Seaman (Randy Quaid) to Portsmouth Naval Prison just across the coastal border of Maine. They decide to give the ‘kid’ a good time in several misadventures along the way.

“The Last Detail” (1973) is a road movie in the Northeast during the transition from late Fall to early Winter (shot in November-January). While a realistic drama, it’s also a dark comedy with interesting and amusing commentaries on life, the American military, corruption, injustice, friendship, recreation, folly, sexual relations and so on. To be expected with young characters in the military, the talk and shenanigans are often R-rated.

Nicholson’s friend, Dennis Hopper, took the template of this film to make the similar "Chasers" two decades later (1994). While it’s way more obscure, “Chasers” is the more entertaining film. This one is too mundane on occasion, like when the guys drink & blather in their underwear in the hotel room. Another similar flick is "The Lucky Ones" (2007). While I feel “The Last Detail” is the least of the three, it’s definitely worth checking out.

The movie runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot on location, taking the same journey as the trio, except for Toronto doubling as Norfolk in the first act, as well as a later scene involving the fictitious Calvin Coolidge Junior High. The rest of the film was shot in coastal Virginia, DC, New York City, Massachusetts and New Hampshire/Maine.

GRADE: B

"Meadows" (Randy Quaid) got caught trying to steal $40 from a charity box and so was kicked out of the US Navy and sent down for eight years! Charged with getting him to the jail are two veteran chancers "Buddusky" (Jack Nicholson) and "Mule" (Otis Young). These two think this is all just a bit of a lark that will get them away from the grind, but they haven't bargained on their prisoner. He comes across as little more than a timid child. Nervous and vulnerable. Why not make sure his last day of freedom is a bit more enjoyable? A few drinks won't hurt. Then, maybe, an hooker to pop his cherry (and make him even more aware of what he's going miss for the next eight years!). As you'd expect, as the young man starts to come out of his shell a little, this trio start to bond and they also begin to question their own attitudes and priorities as they get ever closer to the end of their task. Nicholson is in his element here: slightly loud, completely flaky and over the top. His characterisation of the decent but flawed "Buddusky" is powerfully presented here and is foiled equally well by the more understated Young who has a slightly more stoic, reserved, reaction to a life that perhaps his colour has drummed into him over the years. It's Quaid, though, that stole this for me. He plays the part like he's a flower waiting to blossom - and a prickly and thorny one, at that. It's all about masculinity but it's also about picking holes in that façade as these men deal with their own humanity all whilst they all make sure there are some darkly comedic enterprises along the way, too - just ask Carol Kane. Perhaps the USN won't have liked the portrayal of it's elite, here? These men feel themselves completely undervalued and under appreciated by their superior and are determined to break free from their own prison of mundanity. Even if it is for just one day.