The Last Run

source: The Last Run

Moviecut—The Last Run

Tedious, utterly pointless crime yarn. After the five opening minutes, you have already started wondering why this movie was made. The movie ends and it still hasn't provided the answer to that question. Scott is an excellent, magnetic actor, but he is fighting against fourth-rate material here....and he loses.

George C. Scott is about the only good thing in this movie. Tony M. can not act. He always plays the same character in every movie and is basically a cartoonish version of a tough guy. The car scenes are really weird; slow and slower and boring. Even the few shoot outs are dull and boring and slow. No on screen chemistry between any of the actors, yet Scott fell in love on this movie set and divorced his wife. I can't figure any of it out. If you are a fan of George C. Scott, see this film. If not, forget about it.

Well made dramatic thriller about an ex-driver for the mob, now retired and living on a beach with nothing else to do, and nothing else he knows how to do. When he's called upon after nine years to perform a job he takes it, simply to see if he can still do it. Scott is the best reason to watch this other-wise standard chase film; As the aging driver who's lost everything and has nothing to do but die, he is masterful. This is one of his finest (and most under-rated) performances. An engaging film with some intense moments of action and a great existentialist feel to it. Doesn't quite hit it's mark at times, but worth-while for Scott. Good photography. *** out of ****

The Last Run is a psychological analogy and public expression of George C. Scott's complicated, intense relationships with Colleen D. and Trish V. Although low-key and ahead of its time, The Last Run is entertaining if you enjoy adult drama which examines details of relationships, emotion, fear of death, determination to succeed, and guilt. George C. Scott's characterization of an aging criminal is intensely quiet and effective.

Last Run tells the story of a retired get-away driver who come to think of retirement as slow death. And so takes one last job. He retired to Portugal, bought a house and a boat, to live happily ever after. But it doesn't work out that way. His 3 year old son died, his new wife left for another lover, he rented his boat to a real fisherman on realising he's a hopeless fisherman; he leads a lonely life. He takes a job nine years later to prove to himself that he's still capable, that he's not dead. He wishes more than ever to do the job well; and he does. This movie touches on the meaning of death and what it takes to be alive. Its a personal journey an sums up middle aged life. I particularly liked the use of the car. It was filmed beautifully with authentic sound and driving: no special effects, just an honest representation as the last love in his life. It was refreshing to see the driver fighting the live rear axle as he negotiated mountainous bends at speed. Now there's something missing from modern movies.

Subtlety is everything in understanding the Last Run. It is a movie about lost dreams and lives that didn't turn out quite like things were planned. The protagonist is not old Harry Garmes, retired and living the good life, a beautiful spot in seaside Portugal. If anything, Harry is the antagonist: he is the one who made it past all the danger only to be caught up in the real web of life. Harry thought life would be perfect, but it isn't. He wakes up at the beginning of this film and discovers he has nothing, despite having almost everything he thought he wanted. As others have said, this is existential, to be sure, but so beautifully sublime, I could only wish more movies were made like this, replete with beautiful cars for those who know, in contrast to the flashy but horrid handling boats like the bloated 428 Mustangs. The protagonist is the car, the exquisite BMW 503. Harry comes back to the car, not all the other things surrounding the plot. He resurrects the car along with himself. Watch the careful way he sets the floats, listens to the engine the old way, with a rubber tube. He does it carefully, step by step dusting himself off at the same time. he does it with devotion and love. Harry knows that things aren't as important as living and he only feels alive when driving the car. Harry comes alive when he is driving "her" and he is only too happy to make one more run for his old employer's friends. He wants to feel again, something that the pain of life has beaten out of him slowly. Remember, Harry retired 9 years before;he knows he's a dinosaur, just like his car. He knows he is dying, albeit of complacency and scar tissue, and wants a chance at life... one more chance to be alive. He wants to dance with someone he loves. His driving mirrors real life. His love is really the car, the only thing he has left of which he is capable of loving, Trish Van Devere's underwear notwithstanding. To any car buff, the sound of the supercharger engaged in this car is a thrill beyond measure. There are no fat tires, no suspensions on the ground, no huge engines. In fact, the 503, * supercharger wasn't even all that fast in its day. In 1971, the XJ6 with a 4.2 liter engine would have made a good match for the old Beemer. Tony Musante is perfect in the guise of the young action oriented hit-man who can only have fun by hurting and killing things. It's a perfect scenario of the modern world steamrolling art. When you add the scenery and a gorgeous Trish Van Devere, who I think later married George C., Colleen Dewhurst, whose acting is stunning, how can anyone think of a better action movie? Subtlety in art is better than flash and tinsel. Nevertheless, maybe it would lose in a ballot to what passes for art these days.

I was drawn to this film for two reasons: actor George C. Scott, and cinematographer Sven Nykvist. I was disappointed by neither. There is a story in here if you stick with it, particularly in the relationship between Scott's character and the girl. A tribute to Scott's great ability is my empathetic reaction to everything his character goes through, I cared about this man, and was truly let down by how it all ended for him. Old men should not have to die alone.

The story is simple... George C. Scott, a retired Chicago gangster, whose specialty in the old days was as a wheelman, lives in Spain... For various reasons, he agrees to drive an escaped convict (Tony Musante) and his girl (Trish Van Devere) across the country in a getaway drive from the Guardia Civil and rival gangsters... The twist is that the ex-gangster genuinely loves automobiles... In his garage he has a super charged 1957 BMW 503, one of the prettiest sporting cars ever built, and Scott cares for this vehicle almost with the love he would give a woman... Forced to drive it too far and too fast with the 'blower' cut in, he complains that it will ruin the motor, a thought about the internal-combustion engine which movie drivers never seem to have... When, at the end of the film, he crashes the car, it is obvious that he will then sacrifice his life for the hoodlum and the girl, because there is nothing left for him... Colleen Dewhurst (who was Mrs. Scott) is also featured in this exciting, and certainly, one of the most beautifully photographed chase thriller...