Customer Reviews

The Last Shot

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Based on an article on unique FBI operation to arrest a mobster, slightly off-beat comedy 'The Last Shot' offers two good things -- one is the comical look on Hollywood movies and the people involved, and the other is the endearingly funny "odd couple" of Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin.

FBI thought of a brilliant idea (believe it or not, it's based on truths). FBI agent Joe (excellent Baldwin) is assinged a strange job by his boss Ray Liotta to disguise himself as Hollywood producer, and invite unsuspecting, unemployed film director Steve (Broderick at his best) to join in his 'project' to make a film. Incredibley to Steve, Joe allows him eveything -- final cut, casting approval, everything. Very happy Steve joins in the project, not knowing the truths behind that.

Actually, this is a sting to arrest a mobster boss Tony Shalhaub for racketeering. Believing all these lies, however, Broderick's Steve cast his girlfriend (Calista Flockhart) as the lading lady, in HIS film about a dying woman in the desert of Arizona. But Joe as FBI wants the film shot in Rhode Island, and lots of silly things start to happen -- like changing the settings, dialogues, and even the ending.

Yes, the FBI article is only a starting point for this comedy, and the film is in fact a satrical look on Hollywood-style film-making, and first-time director Jeff Nathanson surely knows the rukes of this industry. (Incidentally, this is the third film Jeff Natahnson is involved, which is based on the real-life event: 'Catch Me If You Can,' 'The Terminal' and 'The Last Shot') However, the film does not teach you much about Hollywood if you are already an avid reader of the gossip columns or the Internet sites on movies.

In fact, the greatest thing about 'The Last Shot' is its actors. In addition to the perfect Broderick and Baldwin, you get Toni Collette as has-been actress who acts like a diva, and several cameos of Joan Cuzack, Buck Henry, and (very brief) Eric Roberts and Pat Morita as himself. Only Tim Blake Nelson's character as Steve's brother is, I think, unnecessary, making the film too serious.

I think Jeff Nathanson downplays everything too much, making the whole film a bit too sentimental at times. But the film is certainly charming when it shows rhe unlikely friendship between an FBI agent and a down-and-out film director, and Alec Baldwin and Matthew Broderick are both wonderful as Joe and Steve. My four stars may be too kind, but I like the two actors, who well deserve this rating.

"The Last Shot" is a satirical but good-natured look at the film industry and the passion to make movies. It was inspired by a real 1989 FBI sting operation, in which an FBI agent posing a producer enlisted two unwitting filmmakers to make a movie in Providence, Rhode Island in order to net some mobsters. In "The Last Shot", ambitious FBI agent Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) dreams up "Operation Dramex" to nail mobster Tommy Sanz (Tony Shalhoub) by bribing him to intercede with the Teamsters on a movie that Divine will pretend to produce. But first Divine will need a script. Stephen Schats (Matthew Broderick) has been trying to stir up interest in his script, called "Arizona", for years while managing a movie theater and running a kennel for celebrities' dogs in Hollywood. He thinks his dreams have finally come true when Joe offers to finance the film, with Stephen allowed to direct, no less. Devine doesn't actually want to make the movie, but only to use pre-production to trap Sands. But Devine and his FBI colleagues get caught up in cinematic and professional ambition and end up taking the film and the sting operation farther than they had intended.

"The Last Shot" sends up the entire film industry, from Hollywood players to aspiring producers to writer wannabes. It even pokes fun at the vaunted passion to create art. Writer/director Jeff Nathanson's decision to spare no one is one of the film's strengths. Another is the fantastic cast. Alec Baldwin is perfect, and the depth of the supporting cast kept surprising me. Toni Collette is very funny as a screwed-up actress and former "it girl" desperate to resuscitate her career. Calista Flockhart is Steven's actress girlfriend even more desperate to start a career. Joan Cusack parodies a television producer recruited to teach the FBI about the movie business. Ray Liotta is Joe Devine's brother and FBI superior. Maybe only big fans of film and of filmmaking will find "The Last Shot" hilarious, but, if that's you, you won't want to miss this all-out send-up.

The DVD (Buena Vista 2005 release): Bonus features include a featurette about the true story that inspired the film, a variety of material that didn't make the final cut, and a audio commentary. In "Inspired by Actual Events" (12 minutes), FBI agent Garland Schweickhardt and former filmmakers Gary Levy and Dan Lewk talk about their experiences with the real 1989 FBI operation on which the film was based. "Robert Evans Presents" (2 minutes) is a few scenes in which legendary producer Robert Evans provided narration for the film that was eventually cut. You can choose to view the film with the narration or just watch the narration by itself. "Joan Cusack's Montage" (1 1/2 minutes) is a few clips of Cusack's performance that didn't make the final cut. There are 3 extended scenes and one deleted scene available. The audio commentary by writer/director Jeff Nathanson and actor Matthew Broderick is casual, with a lot of comedic banter, but also contains information on directorial decisions and filming. Captions for the film are available in English. Subtitles are available in Spanish and French.

THE LAST SHOT is based on an amazing true story wherein the FBI sets up a phony movie production to snare some top criminal figures, such as John Giotti and his gang. Alec Baldwin plays FBI agent Joe Devine, who wants to move on to bigger and better things, especially after the suicide death of his beloved dog, Sasha. He convinces the agency to front a fake movie in order to catch a big crime ring in Providence, Rhode Island, of all places. He manages to convince aspiring screenwriter Matthew Broderick that his script for "Arizona" is a movie he is willing to produce, and from thereon, things get sticky. Baldwin is very good in his role as is the sheepish Broderick. A strong supporting cast including Toni Collette as a fading actress; Tony Shalhoub as the target of the scam; Joan Cusack as a sharp-tongued agent; Tim Blake Nelson as Broderick's frustrated brother; Calista Flockhart as Brodericks neurotic girlfriend, help make THE LAST SHOT an entertaining, bittersweet dramedy. You'll find lots of places to laugh in the send up of the independent movie industry.

THE LAST SHOT is best viewed with a bit of info to let the patient viewer understand what is coming. The opening titles are clever, dealing with movie paraphernalia that serve as matrices for the stars and production staff names and should give a sense of what is to come. But it isn't until the first 20 or so minutes into the film that the significance of the movie can be appreciated.

Based on an apparently true news article, THE LAST SHOT takes a pot shot at not only Hollywood, but also organized crime, production magnates, the FBI, and little people with big dreams lost in the elusive utopia of fame.

The plot is well outlined on these pages. Suffice it to say that the FBI sends Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) to Hollywood to pose as a producer to lure the underground crime lord Tommy Sanz (Tony Shalhoub) to surface and be caught. Devine needs a script as he discovers from the gross Fanny Nash (Joan Cusack at her hilarious best) and gradually encounters Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick) who with his pathetic brother Marshall Paris (Tim Blake Nelson) has written an unmarketable, nonsalable script called 'Arizona'. Devine grabs on to the project, making Schats the director (his dream come true) and casts the film with has-been actress with box office draw Emily French (Toni Collette who looks terrific and adds yet another priceless cameo to her brilliant repertoire) and Valerie Weston (Calista Flockhart) who just happens to be Schats' squeeze.

The process of filmmaking and the infectious delirium of Hollywood affects everyone in this film - even the FBI and especially Devine who softens into a man who wants to provide the 'littleman' Schats with his dream. The humor is broad, WAY over the top, crude, and slapstick and in so many ways this movie mimics all of the intangible oddities that make Hollywood what it is. The performances by Baldwin, Broderick, Cusack, Flockhart - and, well, all of the inserted cameos - are excellent. Once you get the premise of this film it moves from being inane to being a really terrific parody with some sensitive metaphors. Grady Harp, June 05

I never saw this movie in the theatre, but happened across it on televison, saw it, and decided to purchase the DVD.

No, it's not rocket science, but it is a very fun movie with some great acting and a mind-bending plot. Broderick and Baldwin are great. There's some very racy and very funny dialogue, and the best thing in the film is Joan Cusack.

Based on a true story (somewhat), this is a very funny and well-put-together movie.

In life we can be certain of two things, the FBI will always try to catch mobsters and everybody in Hollywood will always try to make movies. This movie tries to combine those two ideas into one film, but from where I'm sitting, it just didn't work. Alec Baldwin plays an FBI agent who stages the making of a film in order to catch members of John Gotti's gang. Matthew Broderick plays the role of the easily swindled wannabe movie director who gets "hired" to make this "film." Along the way Baldwin becomes obsessed with movies, as opposed to mobsters, and tries to convince the FBI to finance the making of the film. My complaints with the movie start with Broderick. He plays the character as a total flake, and while this may be realistic, it is highly annoying. He has obviously spent WAY too much time on Broadway as he can't help but sing and dance his way through the film. At one point the film even involves him singing "Short People," and I can't see one reason to insert that other than to appease Broderick. On the other hand, Toni Collette stops by and gives the strongest performance of the film as the loose cannon adult film star who is going to play the lead (or at least she thinks). Her performance is especially strong when you consider her characters in "About a Boy" and "Connie and Carla." Unfortunately she has to endure a very unpleasant scene involving urine that misses it's mark by a mile, but at least she gives that scene all that she's got. A few years ago Comedy Central pulled off a similar stunt where they convinced a hack that he was going to direct a film, and then rigged it so that everything would go wrong. TV critics everywhere cried cruelty, but the critic in me says ignore cruelty, funny is funny. It's just that this film isn't that funny. The film shows the love people have for the film industry, however it also shows how far people will go to get into the movie industry. In what other industry could you convince somebody to just pretend that Rhode Island is Arizona and have them go along with it? Aren't these people somewhat asking for it? I would also say that the storyline involving Broderick's brother (played by Tim Blake Nelson) is severely undercooked. It serves the purpose of exposing a skeleton in Broderick's closet, but that it about it (unless you count jokes just like ones we saw in "Starsky and Hutch" only not funny). At the end we see that Baldwin has left the FBI to write movies. However, as a viewer we can only feel sorry for him because, as they pointed out earlier in the film, everybody in LA has a script, just ask them for it. 2.75 out of 5

The Last Shot is a moderately amusing flick satirizing the movie industry, the crazies that populate it, and how you can become crazy yourself becoming a part of it - even if you're the FBI.

Very loosely based on real events - Alec Baldwin portrays Joe Devine, a dedicated undercover FBI agent desperate to move to the big crimes and the cities that house them. Unfortunately for him - his Machiavellian older brother happens to be one of the Deputy Directors of the agency and has subtly sabotaged his career in an effort to appear unbiased; the unspoken insinuation is that he's also keeping him down in some unresolved sibling rivalry.

In yet another tossed-under-the-bus move, Joe's reward for choosing to get his finger cut off to insure that a bunch of thugs get longer prison sentences (an act that should warrant a promotion) has his brother sending him to yet another wasteland - Providence Rhode Island.

The empty assignment is to take down a local mafioso who, among other things, runs the local trucking union. Despite the crushing blow to his career, Joe devises an interesting plan to accomplish his mission: Produce a faux movie which he hopes will be shaken down for bribes, insuring no "unexpected union problems" crop up - thereby breaking up the small-time crime ring.

To accomplish this, he has to recruit an unsuspecting dupe. A real life screenwriter/director who will be told his film will be made. The poor sucker who gets the call - Matthew Broderick's goofy post-hippie character Steven Schats. A nobody who has tried for more than a decade to get his sappy script sold and turned into a film. His real life job? The manager at Mann's Chinese Theater.

Cue the motley cast of characters which call Schats friend and auteur.

That I'm now starting my sixth paragraph reveals the problem with the film - it's way too convoluted. You need a scorecard just to keep the characters and their motivations straight.

Has some bright moments - particularly when Alec Baldwin is on screen. The man has the subtle and very difficult to master 'huh?' or 'what?' performance down perfectly - the confused pawn lost amongst the hidden motivations of the bigger pieces on a much larger board.

A middling affair with moderate laughs.

I came across "The Last Shot" when it ran on the Comedy Channel and am now here on Amazon to buy it! Very funny, clever, great satire, the acting and actors are hilarious. One of Alec Baldwin's best characters - which he went further with on "Will & Grace". Very well done, fun to watch Hollywood enjoy itself without getting over self-indulgent. A film that left me smiling. I recommend this unexpected find.

This movie is great. It is very entertaining and hilarious. Matthew Broderick does a superb job acting in the role of a down and out wanna be screen writer. The movie does a great job satirizing Hollywood as well as government agencies and has some very clever and very funny moments. I highly recommend it.

This movie gets pretty crazy in some parts... although Broderick's and Baldwin's rather restrained performances really help in keeping it from going completely over the top...
Some funny takes on the fbi and movies etc with a rather unusual visual treatment in atmosphere (using boston, the desert, etc)... alot of different camo actors add interest...
Reminds me of Mistress with Robert DeNiro which is possibly a better film (mostly because of Landau's great performance)...