by John Bear
Daily Lobo
"The Last Detail" is a movie about how life can seem like an endless stream of unpleasantness no one wants to deal with.
The film stars Jack Nicholson and Otis Young as career seamen languishing in the temporary housing of some bleak naval base, awaiting their next assignments.
Nicholson's character, Billy "bad ass" Buddusky, spends most of his days passed-out drunk in the recreation room, vomit bucket ready. When he is awake, he invariably complains about life and what a drag it is. Young's character keeps a somewhat lower profile, blending into the wall, just trying to make it to retirement.
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The unlikely duo receives orders to transport prisoner Larry Meadows, played by Randy Quaid, to a naval prison. It seems Quaid has been caught stealing a mere $40 from a charity box. Unfortunately, it was the base commander's wife's favorite charity, so he has received an eight-year sentence.
Buddusky and Young's character initially plan to take Meadows directly to prison and then dawdle back to base, stopping to party along the way. But they soon begin to soften up a bit - in standard buddy road-flick fashion - and decide to show the condemned a good time by getting him drunk, taking him to a whorehouse and the like. Along the way, the two grizzled sailors begin to see that, perhaps, their lives could be much worse.
Nicholson and Quaid deliver excellent performances. Nicholson is so adept at playing the drunken sailor who is mad at the world, it seems like he was unaware he was even in this movie, and Quaid's sweetly naive Meadows is the stuff crying jags are made of.
These two characters - and the entire storyline - possess believable depth. The plot shuns easy solutions choosing to remain immersed in the thick murk that is life. For example, as the utter horror that is Meadow's existence becomes clearer with each passing moment, Buddusky gains a little more compassion, but usually masks it with endless bravado and rage. He begins to see things as they really are, but does nothing about it - kind of like real life.
The movie simultaneously doles out trouser-soaking hilarity and soul-crushing disappointment. This is the mark of good cinema; the ability to leave the viewer laughing hysterically as he or she rifles through the kitchen cabinets, searching for something sharp.
"The Last Detail" achieves this duality of mood through Nicholson and Quaid. Nicholson brings the laughs with unending drunken tirades ranging from how much he hates the Navy to how much he loves the Navy as soon as an attractive woman enters the room. Quaid will then cause an abrupt shift in outlook through no fault of his own. His character is simply depressing to watch.
Apparently, this movie accurately portrays life in the military. My brother, having recently completed a tour in the military, commented more than once during the film that he has, on numerous occasions, heard most of the conversations that take place between Nicholson and Young.
But "The Last Detail" isn't really about the military. It's about life in general. Nicholson and Young often comment that they "hate this shit detail." The title of the movie assumes some sort of finality is present, but as the viewer watches the film, he or she will begin to realize there is, in fact, no last detail. There is just the last one before the next one.
