特殊任务

"a cinematic travelogue cogently and frankly charts America's ennui and angst in the post-Vietnam War era."

Shoving injustice right in its audience's face, Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL is an ethos-reflecting, profanity-riddled road trip of the titular detail - Navy signalman Buddusky (Nicholson) and seaman Mulhall (Young) are assigned to escort a young offender Meadows (Quaid) from Norfolk, Virginia to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Maine - that conveys hearty commiserations to the downtrodden and expresses remonstrance to the powers that be. An 18-year-old Meadows is unfairly subjected to a draconian 8-year sentence and dishonorable discharge for pilfering (in vain) 40 dollars, but Badass”Buddusky and“Mull”Mulhall can do nothing to rescind the penalty, since they are self-professed Navy“lifers”, what they can actually do, is to show Meadows a good time before he is cooped up, and Robert Towne’s scintillating script doesn’t mince words of Meadows’ bleak prospect in the brig, for a callow and innocuous boy like him, he will never pull through his pending trials and tribulations as the same person.A lofty but ponderous Randy Quaid superbly telegraphs Meadows’ congenial naiveté in his Oscar-nominated coup de foudre for Actor in a Supporting Role (though fairly speaking, the triad should have shared an even-steven co-leading designation), and transubstantiates it to a force of unaffected pull that absolutely evokes compassion from even the most callous heart.The trio’s hijinks entail the usual suspects of benders and attempts of making whoopee (the latter is underwent through an incredibleNichiren chant hookup and concludedwith an altruistic gesture to put the kibosh on Meadow's virginity in a house of ill repute),and more thoughtful arrangements including a visit to Meadow’s mother, whose non-appearance and the empty house quietly but pungently speak volumes of Meadow’s ill-bred backstory, plus a wintry barbecue as Meadows’ last request, where he executes his first and final crack of running away, then the ending expunges all the prior camaraderie to a terse farewell, no words, no looking back, Meadows is manhandled to a future shrouded by masculine turpitude, just like that and Ashby steely disobliges audience’s anticipation of a sentimental half-way house, presents the red-tape asperity in its stead, Navy or Marine, they are all cut from the same rotten cloth.Nicholson chalks up Cannes’ BEST ACTOR laurel and parlays it into an Oscar nomination with his cynical ebullience and biting disillusion that encapsulates the signs of its times, concealing his profound distress that an innocent spirit is going to be snuffed and the damning incapacitating feeling that he can do nothing about it. Otis Young, also gives a thoroughly credible job as the contrarian-turned-sympathizer with a more reserved and practical make-up, provides a sober perspective from the sidelines (often tallies with the camera arrangements centering a barnstorming Nicholson).When the snare drum rolls in the end, one wonders what does“last” stands for in its title, apparently it doesn’t mean"final" because both men have no alternative but return to the military service, yet as a cinematic travelogue cogently and frankly registers America's ennui and angst in the post-Vietnam War era,"least suitable”might find more grounds in its context.referential films: Ashby’s HAROLD & MAUDE (1971, 7.4/10), SHAMPOO (1975, 5.0/10), BEING THERE (1979, 8.3/10).

从第一个镜头开始，杰克·尼科尔森就让你忘记他在演戏。那个外冷内热、满嘴脏话却内心温柔的士官，简直是他生涯最被低估的角色之一。本片拿下戛纳最佳男演员奖，实至名归。兰迪·奎德演的年轻水兵，那种迷茫和懦弱，让人想钻进屏幕给他一拳再抱抱他。改编自达里尔·波尼克森同名小说，编剧是《唐人街》的罗伯特·汤，剧本扎实到每个对话都值得回味。专业影评人视其为新好莱坞浪潮中充满人文温度的公路片杰作，我完全同意。豆瓣7.4分（7620人评价）我觉得偏低了，可能是因为节奏慢？但正是那些漫长的无聊的公路镜头，才让最后的情感爆发如此有力。三个男人从疏离到建立情谊的过程，没有一句煽情台词，全是细节堆积出来的。看的时候一直在想，如果我是个被押解的囚犯，遇到这样的押送兵，会不会也想逃跑？不是逃开监狱，而是逃开那个死板的体制。这片子对体制的讽刺藏在每一句调侃里，却又不尖锐，就是那种淡淡的无奈。提个批评：有些段落确实拖沓，但拖沓也是风格的一部分，你爱不爱随便。总之，1973年的片子，现在看依然动人，这就是经典。