The Last Shot (2004)

Director:

Jeff Nathanson

Writers (WGA):

Steve Fishman (article)
Jeff Nathanson (written by)

Release Date:

5 November 2004 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The true story of the greatest movie never made.

Plot:

A movie director-screenwriter finds a man to finance his latest project but soon discovers that the producer is actually an undercover FBI agent working on a mob sting operation.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Undercover | Movie Producer | FBI Agent | Sting Operation

Cast

Matthew Broderick	...	Steven Schats
Alec Baldwin	...	Joe Devine
Toni Collette	...	Emily French
Tony Shalhoub	...	Tommy Sanz
Calista Flockhart	...	Valerie Weston
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Marshal Paris
Buck Henry	...	Lonnie Bosco
Ray Liotta	...	Jack Devine
Ian Gomez	...	Agent Nance
Troy Winbush	...	Agent Ray Dawson
Thomas McCarthy	...	Agent Pike (as Tom McCarthy)
W. Earl Brown	...	Willie Gratzo
Evan Jones	...	Troy Haines
Glenn Morshower	...	Agent McCaffrey
James Rebhorn	...	Abe White

Also Known As:

Providence (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | USA:R (certificate #40240) | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Grauman's Chinese Theater - 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Morra, Brezner, Steinberg and Tenenbaum Entertainment (MBST)

Trivia:

In the "burro casting" sequence neither of the animals being considered are burros. They are both mules - the sterile offspring of a burro (donkey) and a horse.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Though the film is set in 1985, the United Airlines plane shown at the Rhode Island airport is painted in a color scheme that was not used until the mid-1990s.

Quotes:

Joe Devine: Can you help me find a script?
Fanny Nash: This is Hollywood. Just go outside and ask anyone you see to give you a script. A gardener, a cripple, a child molester. They've all got 'em.

Movie Connections:

References "Bonanza" (1959)

Soundtrack:

Come On Get Happy

A work of film

I suppose I went to this movie for the actors: enigmatic Alec Baldwim, charming Matthew Broderick, turned-sardonic Tony Shalhoub, mafia man Ray Liotta (who resembles a "cappo di tutti cappo" even as the director of the FBI) and thin Calista Flockhart. In the end I came to like it because of what it actually is: a frank story about goodness and dreams and not "another" cover up story for a gang heist.

So you've got undercover agent Joe (Baldwin) who is so dedicated to his job, that he lets someone cut his finger off, just in order to get a longer sentence. Then there's Steven (Broderick), a want-to-be film director, who's still searching for his pot of gold...ah, luck. The rest of the characters orbit gently around these two propellers, spawning a genuine web of film-making personnel. Joe and Steven get to know each other when the detective plans to frame a certain low-ranker of the notorious Gotti family (in this particular case, Tommy Sanz, played by Shalhoub) and decides to pose as a film producer in order to fulfill his assignment. He meets Steven, the fate less anonymous screenwriter and the cameras start rolling...well, more or less.

The film proves to be a productive comedy - as in you'll get plenty of chances to prove your laughing capabilities - and is also dubbed by a layer of "sensfullness", meaning it's a smart comedy. Not all the time,I have to admit, but often enough. If I were to compare it with, let's say, "Get Shorty", a rather similar movie, I think I'd go for this one simply because its got more juice to squeeze. Director/screenwriter Nathanson efficiently parodies a lot of wacko attitudes of Hollywood, even though some of these particular scenes did seem to have been forced into the film. All in all, I'd say it's worth your time!

And one more thing...the intro credits are simply brilliant!