The Last Detail (1973)

Directed by Hal Ashby. Starring Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, Carol Kane, Luana Anders, Nancy Allen, Kathleen Miller, Michael Moriarty. [R]

Rowdy but touching seriocomedy examining three angry, lost souls who lash out in fruitless ways against obstacles that cannot be broken or bargained with. The trio are Navy men—a resentful lifer (Nicholson), his rudderless mate (Young), and a morose kleptomaniac (Quaid)—where the first two are escorting the latter from Norfolk to Portsmouth for a dishonorable discharge and eight-year brig sentence. The booze-and-debauchery-fueled trip that follows offers pleasures both simple and profound, from discovering individualism and humanity to the antiauthoritarian mockery of post-Vietnam military life and bureaucracy. Though the role has been tailored a little too closely to the star’s magnetism, Nicholson scores another ideal performance; handed the most explicit character arc, Quaid also impresses as a quiet misfit who too late manages to discover himself while on the road to ruin. Robert Towne’s funny, perceptive and profane script was adapted from the Darryl Ponicsan novel. Inspired the 1994 comedy, Chasers, and was “followed” by an unofficial sequel in 2017: Last Flag Flying.

84/100