The Last Command (1973)

Movie
German title	The last command
Original title	The last detail
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1973
length	103 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Hal Ashby
script	Robert Towne
production	Gerald Ayres
music	Johnny Almond
camera	Michael Chapman
cut	Robert C. Jones
occupation
	Jack Nicholson : Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky; Otis Young : "Mule" Mulhall; Randy Quaid : Larry Meadows; Clifton James : MAA; Carol Kane : young prostitute; Michael Moriarty : Marine Duty Officer; Luana Anders : Donna; Kathleen Miller : Annette; Nancy Allen : Nancy; Gerry Salsberg : Henry; Michael Chapman : Taxi driver; Gilda Radner : Member of the Nichiren Shoshu; Jim Horn : Member of the Nichiren Shoshu;

The last command (original title: The Last Detail ) is an American film by Hal Ashby from 1973, produced by Columbia Pictures . It is based on the 1970 novel The Last Detail by Darryl Ponicsan .

action

The navy sailors barracked in Norfolk , Virginia , Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky and "Mule" Mulhall are so-called "lifers", soldiers who have committed themselves to serving the Navy for their entire professional life. They are assigned to transfer a comrade who has been sentenced to the Portsmouth Naval Prison near Portsmouth , New Hampshire . Eighteen-year-old Meadows has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempted theft of US $ 40 from a polio fund . The completely disproportionate verdict came about because the polio fundraising campaign was an affair of the heart of the wife of a high commander.

Buddusky and Mule have exactly five days to get their inmate from Virginia to New Hampshire and together they plan to make a big difference on the way back after the job is done. But just a few kilometers after the start of the trip, the project fails and Buddusky begins to develop fatherly feelings for the obviously somewhat harshly judged 18-year-old Meadows. Not unselfishly, Buddusky decides to give the “kid” a few more nice days, and the journey begins to take an idiosyncratic course. After several drinks, a visit to a brothel and bar fights, Meadows tries to escape. Buddusky and Mule confront him and brutally beat him up. The sympathy towards Meadow turns into strong dislike, because they accuse him that his attempt to escape shows ingratitude. They deliver him to the military prison, where he has to begin his sentence.

interpretation

In this film, Hal Ashby documents the periphery of large American cities and the secondary playgrounds of the American mobility spirit: motels, platforms, greyhound buses and burger bars, in an era when America has already lost the Vietnam War and the hippie movement is about to die out.

Remarks

Market insiders claim that the film went down in the broad market due to its unfortunate release strategy. Columbia withdrew the film after a few successful screenings in major cities to wait for the Academy Awards. After he did not receive an Oscar, interest waned and The Last Command failed after a much too late release to a wider audience.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films saw a "masterfully written, acted and staged comedy with tragic undertones". For Cinema , the film in which Jack Nicholson shines was "[m] al sarcastic, sometimes sad" and "always good".

Film critic Richard Armstrong praised the film's ability to "convey the feeling of time running out". John and Judith Hess praised the director for using the plot as a metaphor for the general human helplessness towards state institutions. Based on the evaluation of 26 reviews, the film got 92% positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website .