By Jim Shea
Before approaching this comedic movie about the Federal Bureau Investigation turning into film makers, know one thing-The Last Shot is loosely based off a true story. While writer/director Jeff Nathanson, who penned the 2002 hit Catch Me If You Can, is no stranger to poking fun of true stories, The Last Shot is Nathanson’s ambitious directorial debut about the true story of two screenwriters, Gary Levy and Dan Lewk, whom unwittingly took part in a FBI scheme in which a mock movie was made in order to catch mobsters in bribery charges. It may come as no surprise that since Last Shot is loosely based off a true story, it has its loose ends. However, it may be the vulgarity in Last Shot that may save this film from disaster.
The concept of a FBI sting operation disguised as a movie production remains intact from the actual story, while Nathanson changed parts of the story around by adding in elements in order to fill time for the movie. Instead of two characters being based on Levy and Lewk, Last Shot puts the two screenwriters into one character by the name of Steve Schats. Schats (Matthew Broderick) is an ambiguous screenwriter who’s trying to make ends meet in Hollywood by working as a ticket stubber at the Chinese Movie Theater. Opposite of Schats is FBI agent Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) who comes up with a plot by disguising himself as a film producer in order to catch the crooks.
For Broderick, you can tell he’s matured out of his Ferris Bueller persona as he does a decent job holding the role of Schats. Unfortunately there’s no one else in the cast that really shined in Last Shot, except for Toni Collette as Amy French who put up some good effort in the movie. Alec Baldwin’s part as Agent Devine is nothing out of the ordinary – just Baldwin acting like a goofball.
It appears that Nathanson overlooked the fact that Last Shot was going to be hard to convert into a full-length film, even though he’s “intrigued” by the story itself. The major drawback of this film has to be the “fillers” Nathanson added in so that Last Shot can be considered a full-length film. For example, the audience will be confused on the end-results of Schats’ brother, Marshall Paris (Tim Blake Nelson), who’s beleaguered by the fact Schats is taking all the credit for the movie while he’s stuck with his job playing a bank robber in a Western theme park. What they could’ve done is stick to the movie’s subplots so that The Last Shot would be consistent throughout the entire film.
What’s surprising about The Last Shot is that during certain parts in the film, it can be downright raunchy. Just about on the same level of other known “naughty” movies, The Last Shot has its fill of profanity, obscene hijinx, and so forth. Where else will you find something about a dog committing suicide in a jacuzzi? By the way, Joan Cusack’s cameo is the crudest of them all.
Once again, The Last Shot should’ve paid much closer attention to the script. While Nathanson just wanted to remain to true to the original story, The Last Shot needed much more substance. Also, the ending was bittersweet since The Last Shot remained true to the story. This would be a good example where the truth can “hurt.”
You would think that with a star-studded cast, along with the Hollywood treatment that The Last Shot would be opening at box offices everywhere, but as it stands now, this movie is only seeing a limited-release in New York and Los Angeles. While the big name cast of Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Calista Flockhart and Ray Liotta appears to be The Last Shot’s only saving grace, don’t overlook the fact that Last Shot is raunchy enough to produce some chuckles.
Final Grade: C