The Last Detail

R

Released Dec 12, 1973

1h 45m

Comedy

Drama

List

87%

Tomatometer

38 Reviews

87%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

When sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) is sentenced to eight years in a New Hampshire prison, Navy lifers Billy Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Mule Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort him there from Virginia. Along the way, they warm up to their prisoner, indulging him in small ways such as making excursions to a brothel, and to his mother's house. As they get closer to their destination, their fondness for Larry makes it harder for them to execute their orders.

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Critics Consensus

Very profane, very funny, very '70s: Director Hal Ashby lets Jack Nicholson and the cast run loose, creating a unique dramedy that's far out to sea.

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

This picture sounds realistically profane and has a dark, grainy surface, and by Hollywood standards, it's strong, adult material, but the mechanism is a vise for our emotions -- the mechanism is schlock.

Sep 21, 2023

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

Add immaculate casting, a noteworthy debut for cinematographer Michael Chapman, and a spare and subtle score by Johnny Mandel, and you're left with a gem of a film.

Oct 2, 2019

Full Review

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Meadows' 1st beer(s), 1st joint, 1st sexual experience, 1st attempt at assertiveness... represent not just a concentrated and expedited coming-of-age narrative, but also an elegy for a nation's broader loss of innocence in its military excursions.

Feb 27, 2017

Full Review

Ian Kane

Epoch Times

“The Last Detail” is a sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet drama that features believable characters and situations.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 28, 2023

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Neither melancholy nor glitzy enough to warrant the similar cult following of several other Ashby titles, it's a beautiful portrait of barely contained despair trapped in the escapist values of a road trip going nowhere.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 9, 2020

Full Review

John Simon

Esquire Magazine

There is a film in all this; Ashby and his cohorts, however, have not found it. Their movie is too schematic in its rote ups and downs, too predictable in its calculated alternation of drama and farce, and too whorish in its playing to the gallery.

Jul 25, 2020

Full Review

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Walt S

Compelling dark comedy about two sailors escorting a third sailor up the east coast in order to serve an unjust prison term. Embodies everything I love about movies from the 70’s.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

Full Review

Aldo G

Take the simple premise of two members of the military, on orders, escorting a naive service member to the brig to serve an eight year sentence for a petty crime and turn it into a subtle examination of authoritarianism.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/05/24

Full Review

Crey Fish S

Absolutely adored this film. One of those great romantic '70s films that focuses on the struggle for human connection in a bureaucratically divided world. I mean it, this film is heartwarming, hilarious and tragic. Robert Towne's writing for these characters is brilliant. It all just feels so real with the film's pace never lagging behind.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/03/23

Full Review

John A

Very little to no significant plot in sight but it is obvious the filmmakers were doing something particularly off-the-wall much like John Cassavetes. I'd say Jack Nicholson is the sole reason this detail is truly enjoyable

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/12/23

Full Review

Jelisije J

An enjoyable light hearted, but overrated film that wouldn't be as great if it wasn't for Jack Nicolson.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/18/23

Full Review

crustina d

wonderful performances all around and just an all-time classic film. Watch it. Study it. Absorb it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Hal Ashby

Director

Jack Nicholson

Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky

Otis Young

"Mule" Mulhall

Randy Quaid

Larry Meadows

Clifton James

M.A.A.

Carol Kane

Young Whore

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Synopsis

When sailor Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) is sentenced to eight years in a New Hampshire prison, Navy lifers Billy Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Mule Mulhall (Otis Young) are assigned to escort him there from Virginia. Along the way, they warm up to their prisoner, indulging him in small ways such as making excursions to a brothel, and to his mother's house. As they get closer to their destination, their fondness for Larry makes it harder for them to execute their orders.

Director: Hal Ashby
Producer: Gerald Ayres
Screenwriter: Robert Towne
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Bright-Persky Associates, Acrobat Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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