One of the long list of excellent realist films of the 1970's, Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid are outstanding in this story of a young seaman convicted of petty theft by the military and escorted to prison to serve an eight year sentence. Directed by Hal Ashby, Nicholson and Young are the two navy men duty bound to ensure the young seaman, Randy Quaid, arrives at the prison. The young recruit is unwise to the ways of the world. Raised on the wrong side of the tracks, he developed a habit of stealing but was never in serious trouble. Now, he is faced with a prison sentence after making the mistake of trying to take money from a donation box. Unfortunate for him, the charity was the favourite pastime of the wife of the base commander. Nicholson and Young soon realize that the military authorities have consigned a meek, and obedient puppy dog to time in hell. With the reality of the severe sentence handed out to the youth, his two military colleagues embark on a journey that he will remember. That's what the movie is about but more than that, it shows the two navy petty officers conflicted by the ordeal of having to fulfil "the last detail" of an unjust sentence. They feel there is nothing they can do and to be honest, the military are paid to carry out orders; not question those orders. The men in charge of this mission are horrified at the task, particularly Nicholson. Young expresses the fear that they could ruin their careers, taken down by the base authorities if they try to right the wrong. What we see are the two men trying to alleviate the young man's pain. But they know it's a short-term fling before a long journey through a dark night of humiliation, loss of freedom and brutality. In the space of a few days, they have fun drinking, eating and whoring and in the process try to teach the youth how to become a man. What they do accomplish is to help the young man with a few lessons as he learns to stand up for himself, to throw a punch when threatened and to send back food that is not to his satisfaction. The "last detail" is carried out. The petty officers may be given low marks by others of their generation or a later generation for not trying to abort the mission. However sad that might be, it does reflect the reality of life. I was moved by the performance of the three stars.

Two Navy lifers Buddusky and Mulhall are given the unwanted detail of escorting a young sailor called Meadows to military prison up the east coast of the United States. The youngster is to serve eight years for trying to steal $40 from a charity donation can. Buddusky decides to show Meadows a good time in the last free week of his formative years. Various male rituals ensue, including drinking, fighting and getting laid, while Meadows also is shown how to stand up for himself. Meadows learns so much from the experience that he ends up even more depressed about going to jail and even attempts to escape, while Buddusky and Mulhall ultimately complete their detail and go back to work, acknowledging that despite their cynicism this is the only life they know.The Last Detail was one of several high quality films directed by Hal Ashby in the 1970's. Like the others, this one is a very good example of a film from the New Hollywood era, with its uncompromising material and decidedly uncommercial approach. In fact, Robert Towne's hyper-realistic script was so full of profanity it led to the studio Columbia putting off releasing the movie for several months and only once Jack Nicholson won best actor at Cannes for it. But even then they did not support it much and it was not much of a success at the time, going on to be a sleeper. Its anti-authoritarian leanings do ensure that it fits right in with the times it was made though and in Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid it has a trio of actors all putting in very fine work. Nicholson is once again the perfect fit for the rowdy non-conformist, Young does good work as his more even-headed and cynical partner, while Quaid has never been better than as the naive Meadows. It's a film with a real edge and it has an authentic feel on account of the script and acting but also the unglamorous dirty backstreet locations in New York and Boston where the bulk of the action occurs. Because it is about a journey, it's quite an episodic movie too, with a number of small encounters making up the whole, and this works very well as a means of telling this particular story. All-in-all, a very good example of the kind of interesting and unpredictable films that the American studios released for a time in back in the 70's.

There's so much I like about this movie. I was in the Navy when I first saw it and loved how it realistically captured the enlisted reality. The dread you felt when an office or Chief came down the hall looking for volunteers. And you were trapped into some stupid detail. As Mule and Badass drag along Larry to prison forever, they stop along the way to make sure he gets some life experiences before being locked up. Larry matures enough that by the end he can speak up about his unmelted cheese and attempt a getaway. The dialog is perfect -- the slang, the intonation, and the attitudes have been captures. The acting is effortless.

Two Navy officers (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) are appointed to escort a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to prison after he had stolen 40 dollars from a charity collection box. The boy appears as defenseless, since he is a victim of an unjust sentence and the two officers, moved by his weak personality, decide to take some time to let him discover and appreciate things in life that he would not be able to enjoy during his years in prison. Nor Nicholson nor Young are heroes in this film: they instead are failed officers who want to redeem their personal satisfaction on showing and teaching Quaid the pleasures of life. That's all they know. By trying to help the young man growing, they end up ruining his future. He contemplates escape only because he's aware that what's expecting him will destroy his pureness.This film is liberating, because we experience with Quaid the emotions he faces for the first time, and ambiguous, because the efforts of the two officers in leaving in the boy good memories pushes them to question their role and assignment.