I went to
film school because I really love film. That may seem like an obvious
statement, but you might be surprised at the number of my fellow film school
classmates that didn’t seem to know much or even particularly like many movies.
There’s nothing more beautiful to me than a compelling story told through the
lens of a gifted director with artful cinematography. It’s one of life’s truly
greatest gifts. That being said, not everything has to be artful. Not everything
has to be thought-provoking. Not everything has to even be tasteful. Sure, I
love Fellini and Jodorowsky and Orson Welles but you know what? I also love Hot
Tub Time Machine. I also love fucking Crocodile Dundee. I watched a new Adam Sandler movie
LAST WEEK and had a blast with it. Sometimes I just need something completely
mindless and entertaining for its own sake. And nothing can scratch that itch
faster for me than a gratuitously violent action film. So today, I’m going to
talk about Walter Hill’s 1996 gangster-noir-western Last Man Standing.
This delightful
little gun-fest is set in Prohibition-era Texas. The script is loosely based on
the Akira Kurosawa samurai classic Yojimbo. If you’ve seen Kurosawa’s
original, it’s easy to pick out some of the outline points but this film is, in
true Walter Hill fashion, uniquely its own beast. Bruce Willis stars in the
“man with no name” role as a fugitive who wanders into the small dirtball town
of Jericho to find that two rival bootlegging gangs (one Irish, one Italian)
have each set up their own operations in town. The gangs have an unspoken truce
in place when Willis’ character, calling himself “John Smith,” arrives. Smith,
seeing an opportunity for profit, immediately starts stirring up shit between
the two gangs, offering himself up as a gun-for-hire to the highest bidder.
After proving himself worthy by taking out a lieutenant from the Irish gang, he
is quickly hired by the Italian gang, led by NYC mob boss Fredo Strozzi (Ned
Eisenberg). After working for the Italians just long enough to learn their
secrets, Smith then defects to the Irish gang, led by the cartoonish Mr. Doyle
(David Patrick Kelly). Pitting the two gangs against each other and forcing a
gang war, Smith continues to betray the trust of each of his former employers
until everyone wants him dead. Except it's Bruce Willis, and the film is called
Last Man Standing, so guess what….
At the
heart of it, it would seem like any other Bruce Willis action film. But hear me
out here, because there is far more to this film, and in particular Bruce
Willis’ Smith character, than meets the eye. Smith is not like other Bruce
Willis action hero characters, like your Hudson Hawks and your John McClains.
Smith is not a hero. He is not even a good guy. In fact, he might be the worst
guy in Jericho which seems to be, with the exception of a spineless and corrupt
sheriff (Bruce Dern), a mild-mannered innkeeper (William Sanderson) and a
perpetually-grinning undertaker, a town made up entirely of criminals. Smith waltzes
into town armed with two handguns and zero plans, and over a matter of days takes
out hundreds of criminal gang members, never once missing and never taking a
bullet himself. Smith is the main character and has the least amount of
dialogue, barely saying ten words throughout the entire film (except when
narrating). This monosyllabism adds to the sociopathy of his character, who
seemingly enjoys just toying with these gang members just for the sake of it.
Well, the sake of it and the money of it. The only time he shows any sign of a
conscience is when he uses the money he’s made off the chaos between the gangs
to pay the mistresses of both gang bosses so they can get out of town and start
new lives. But even then he doesn’t show any romantic interest in either of
them, and admittedly leaves Jericho with less money than he came in with. So
perhaps he really did just disrupt everyone’s businesses and lives simply
because he knew he could, which makes this character far more fascinating than
just an average macho gunslinger. Less a dick-measuring contest and more a
lesson in psychology. Also, you get to see Chris Walken play one of the most
terrifying characters of his career, so that’s a plus.
Anyway, if
you judge this film based on most of the reviews online or its reception at the
box office, then you’re really not giving it the credit it deserves. It’s an
extremely underrated gem from a director who himself doesn’t get the credit he
deserves. Whether you agree with that or not, at the very least watch it for
the rad gunfights.
-
Jonathan Eagle
No comments:
Post a Comment