SYNOPSICS
The Last Run (1971) is a English,Portuguese,Spanish movie. Richard Fleischer,John Huston has directed this movie. George C. Scott,Tony Musante,Trish Van Devere,Colleen Dewhurst are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1971. The Last Run (1971) is considered one of the best Action,Crime,Drama,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
A former getaway driver from Chicago (George C. Scott) has retired to a peaceful life in a Portuguese fishing village. He is asked to pull off one last job, involving driving a dangerous crook and his girl-friend to France. However, the job turns out to be a double-cross and the trio are pursued back to Portugal where they make one last stand on the coast while the enemy assassins attempt to gun them down.
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The Last Run (1971) Reviews
One of the most beautifully photographed chase thriller...
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...
the existential crime/road movie
A really excellent film, written by the wonderful and neglected Alan Sharp (see Night Moves). Scott is great and in an era of endless explosions and car chases, this is a welcome, intelligent relief. Richard Fleisher did several good early noir films before his late career as a hack TV director. Also, this background reminds one of Frears film The Hit. (or is it The Last Hit?)...anyway,the writing is first rate, as always with Sharp and the characters quite memorable. Why is it so overlooked? This is the kind of genre piece that simply doesn't get made anymore. All performances are solid --- and I also have to wonder at the career of Richard Fleisher. From something as good as this, to his late work will remain a filmic enigma.
Negative comments indicate viewers missed the point
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.
A Race to the End
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, cum 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.
Is there life after death?
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.