The Last Marshal
The Last Marshal
R | 02 October 1999 (USA)
The Last Marshal Trailers

Marshall McClary, one of the most violent, racist, foul- mouthed Marshalls in Texas, is in the middle of resolving a hostage situation (by shooting everyone he sees) when the FBI agents show up, interfering with his negotiation, and ending the event with McClary being wounded and two of the criminals escaping. After hearing that the two fugitives has fled to Miami, McClary follows behind them, working with the local police and offending every single person he encounters.

Reviews
Comeuppance Reviews

Cole McCleary (Glenn) is a tough, racist, hard-drinkin', hard-fightin' and hard-swearin' Texas Deputy Marshal. Naturally, his superiors and colleagues don't approve of his rogue ways. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that he always gets results. When super-evil bad guy Torres (Castellanos) and his "weak link" partner T-Boy (Cruz) do some REALLY bad stuff and abscond to Miami, Cole follows them.Now a complete fish out of water, this throwback of a Texas lawman must contend with a multi-racial environment and a lot of bright colors and upbeat people. He's NOT happy about this. His new partner is Jamie (Batinkoff), a young, hip dude who Cole doesn't really take a shine to. It turns out the criminal mastermind behind all the murder, drugs, kidnappings and probably a lot of other things is DeClerc (Forsythe). Cole must take down the evil empire in his own way - as well as get involved with Rosa (Marie) in a romantic relationship, showing he may have a soft spot after all.Scott Glenn is simply awesome in his role as Cole. He's completely believable as the old-school Texas badass who hates everyone in equal measure. He's grizzled and plays by his own rules. You should watch this movie for his performance alone. Sure, towards the middle of the film there's some unnecessary justifications/psychological explanations for his ways, but you kind of HAVE to do that, and it doesn't take long. One of the more interesting aspects of The Last Marshal is how true it is to its title - Cole truly is the last of a dying breed, and a man out of time. The movie should have explored this aspect just a little bit more - how no-nonsense enforcers like Cole are slowly being replaced by pretty boys who are just prissy and ineffectual.Speaking of the title, it is misspelled in the film. Director Kirton (also responsible for the Forsythe vehicle Strike Force 2003, and who has an extensive stunt background) finds some good locales - from the Texas-set opening of the film, to the Miami "Steak n' Strip", a combination steakhouse and strip joint, one of the most macho eateries we've yet seen on film. Kirton scores big points for releasing such a politically incorrect (for the most part) film in 1999. In fact, except for the music, this movie could have been made in the 80's.We can't forget William Forsythe with his "German" accent and his sidekick Sunny (Boyle). He and his goons certainly raise a high bar for pure evilness. But Cole only wants the goons. He's not interested in solving every single problem in life. Just the ones that came to his Texas turf and ruined his day. The Last Marshal has DTV violence and fun clichés in equal measure. Just check out the classic-of-all-classic Black yelling police chief Lukowski (Wilcox).What the world needs now, more than ever before, is Cole McCleary.For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

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merklekranz

Scott Glenn carries this exciting, yet flawed action film. The set up in Texas has Glenn not exactly following the book in a hostage situation. He then is assigned to Miami, hot on the trail of the two killers who escaped from the Texas mayhem. The first and final part of "The Last Marshal" is superior to the middle, which bogs down in a not believable romance. There are other problems relating to how certain people just happened to show up at certain locations, but these flaws can be overlooked, in favor of lots of action, and some impressive stunts. For an action film, you could do a lot worse than "The Last Marshal" - MERK

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innocuous

You know you're in trouble when there's a misspelling in the title credits. ("Marshal" is misspelled as "marshall," even though they get it right virtually everywhere else in the movie. I guess they had already given up trying to get any quality into the film.) Forsythe's German (??) accent is a riot. Glenn's forced profanity and bigoted speech is so over-the-top that you just can't take it seriously. (Minor Spoilers!) I especially liked the part where the US Marshals Service flies a helicopter to get Glenn (an active Marshal) from his ranch to help with a hostage situation. The flight there and back obviously takes at least 15 to 30 minutes, but when Glenn arrives at the scene of the hostage-taking there are only three (count 'em) police cars there and only five or six cops...no news people at all. When Glenn asks about the absence of police, he's told, "They're on their way...be here in a few minutes." Now, there are at least six hostage-takers and dozens of hostages, including a Federal judge, in the building. I guess the cops just stopped off for doughnuts on the way to the scene...no use hurrying needlessly, right? Only for hopeless Glenn fans.

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Yohanes

B-movies should be treated as B-movie. If you watch the previous condemning comments, well, I can agree to them at some extent but it should be noted that this movie offer a good characterization of the Marshal. A rough, tough, macho, reckless lawman whose approach to handle crime is out of date but proves to be effective, just like Dirty Harry's approach. However, he's also thoughtful, he feels uneasy for getting caught by a lady for uttering swear words. But Scott Glenn truly portrays this character convincingly, a man who's bold enough to assert himself as he is (of course by wiping out his enemies with style). Action scenes are mediocre, but what else do you expect? I think it's still not that bad.

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