The Last Boy Scout

The Last Boy Scout follows grizzled detective Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) as he’s forced to work with a disgraced footballer (Damon Wayans’ Jimmy Dix) to solve a murder, with the case growing more and more complicated as Joe and Jimmy uncover a conspiracy involving crooked politicians and businessmen. Though it’s been infused with a blisteringly quick pace and a tremendous amount of style, The Last Boy Scout is never able to rise above the level of pervasive mediocrity for the duration of its overlong running time – with the most obvious problem the lack of chemistry between the two leads (which is compounded by the rather unlikable nature of both figures). Willis and Wayans’ are essentially riffing on their well-established personas here and it is, as such, not surprising to note that neither actor is able to make a terribly positive impact, with the ensuing lack of momentum preventing one from wholeheartedly embracing the decidedly run-of-the-mill storyline. Filmmaker Tony Scott’s typically flamboyant directorial choices ensure, at the very least, that The Last Boy Scout boasts a handful of engrossing action sequences, and it’s worth noting, too, that the movie contains one of the more memorable central-villain deaths of the 1990s. In the end, though, The Last Boy Scout‘s inability to hold the viewer’s interest for more than a few minutes at a time confirms its downfall and it’s ultimately not difficult to see why it’s considered one of Scott’s least successful efforts.

** out of ****