Bruno-Vision: Billy Bathgate and The Last Boy Scout

Welcome back to Bruno-Vision! A deep dive into the career of Bruce Willis by yours truly, Robert Jordan Hunt!

Last I left you, Big Bad B had just delivered two out of four films to come out in 1991. Mortal Thoughts, a low-budget adult drama in which Bruce only played a small supporting role, and Hudson Hawk, a big budget action comedy from the mind of Mr. Movie Star himself. Hawk had Willis betting everything on himself by combining his action and comedy bonafides, thinking he’d be giving the audience exactly what they wanted from the actor—which hopefully would give him a fresh hit and potential franchise starter in the process. Unfortunately, both films crashed and burned at the box office and critics weren’t keen on them either. Not only had audiences turned down another dramatic turn from Willis, but for the first time, they rejected what had previously been working.

Bruno had all the fingers crossed that his next two flicks in ‘91 were gonna turn those frowns upside down.

His next release was Billy Bathgate, a 1930s mob drama about a young teen who falls in love for the first time while learning the ropes from a fledgling gangster.

No, Bruce does not play a teenager. In fact, this is another film that only has Willis in it for about 10 minutes, and once again, he dies early! Sounds a little familiar, huh? Unlike Mortal Thoughts, the reasoning for taking this part makes complete sense. The film stars Dustin Hoffman as the gangster previously mentioned, is directed by three time Oscar winner Robert Benton (who previously worked with Hoffman on Kramer vs. Kramer) and had an up-and-coming actress known as Nicole Kidman co-starring.

This guy is determined to keep pushing himself to work with top tier talent in Hollywood, even with audiences so far telling him loud and clear they don’t want it. My man.

So did this latest attempt at prestige finally work out?

Lol. No.

Honestly, even statistically speaking, you’d think one of these would have landed better by now. But the Gods had other plans.

Despite the pedigree, director Benton and company can’t keep the film from feeling like a TV movie rather than a prestigious gangster picture. The main love story between Hoffman’s girl, played by Kidman, and his protégé, played by Loren Dean, is half baked at best. It doesn't help that Hoffman, though he can be genuinely intimidating, is bordering on cartoonish 90% of the time. Dean, the actual lead of the film, is fine enough, and the same could be said of Kidman. Both do the best they can with what they’re given, which unfortunately isn’t much.

But we’re not here for them. We’re here for Bruce. So how did he fair? Pretty good I’d say! Bruce plays Hoffman’s “trusted” lieutenant that quickly gets sent to sleep with the fishes when Hoffman finds out he’s been talking to rival bosses. Once again, Willis is asked to play an asshole, which we know at this point he can do in his sleep. He’s great at it here, but what’s really fun for the actor is that for the majority of his short screen time his character is facing his impending doom. His character knows death is coming, and Willis really shows the fear and panic that comes with that knowledge, as well as the eventual acceptance of that fate. It’s truly the best stuff in the movie, and nobody can take that from our boy!

Billy Bathgate limped to a final gross of $15 million on a $48 million budget. Thankfully, Bruce was such a minor player that the film's failure didn’t do much damage to him or his career.

But still, 1991 was supposed to be a banner year for Willis, and so far 3 out 4 movies had crashed and burned. The pressure was on for this final film of the year, The Last Boy Scout, to deliver.

The film follows Joe Hallenbeck (played by Willis), a private detective whose client is murdered, forcing him and the client’s NFL star boyfriend (played by Damon Wayans) to go on the hunt to see who did it and why.

With the combined power of director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Man on Fire), screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys), producer Joel Silver (Die Hard, the Lethal Weapon franchise), up-and-coming comedian Damon Wayans, and of course Mr. Willis, The Last Boy Scout had all the makings of the next big action blockbuster. And honestly, in a year full of big swings for the actor, this movie was the safe play. An action film right in the movie star’s wheelhouse, backed by some of the best talent Hollywood had to offer. Everything about this makes sense, at least on paper.

Unfortunately, all that testosterone proved to be a bad thing, as egos clashed from just about everyone involved, making for a chaotic and drama filled shoot. The film's post-production was just as tumultuous, with multiple editors getting brought in to make sense of what was considered to be a mess of a film. But still, even with all those problems, it seemed like the star power of all involved would be enough to get those butts in seats, am I right?

Now before we get into the particulars, I must warn you; I am about to gush over this film. Whatever magic the editors pulled off worked, because The Last Boy Scout is one of my favorite Bruce Willis movies, full stop. To me, outside of the Die Hard series, this is the epitome of Bruce Willis action movies. This is Bruno tough as nails, slinging one liners left and right. Not only is he always right about the bad guys’ plans, he even gets the everloving shit beat out of him throughout. His character, Joe Hallenbeck, is so far below rock bottom than John McClane could ever hope to get, and I love watching him play the reluctant hero. The man just wears regret on his face like a painting, so when Joe looks at himself in a mirror and says “Nobody likes you. Everybody hates you. You’re gonna lose. Smile, you fuck,” you know that movie magic is happening right before your very eyes.

Thanks to screenwriter Black’s dark and noir-ish tone, Willis gets to double down on his sarcasm and ability to play an asshole and he excels. Hallenbeck genuinely feels at times like he has nothing to lose, and Bruce has the look in his eye to prove it. One of my all time favorite Willis moments is when he is antagonizing Jimmy (Wayans) in a strip club and he catches Jimmy’s punch and forces him to the ground all with one hand. It’s one the single most tough AF moments of Bruno’s career and I’m salivating just thinking about it.

Of course, if we’re talking about Top Tier Willis Moments, you cannot talk about The Last Boy Scout without talking about the legendary scene with one of the all time great bad guy actors, Kim Coates (Bad Boys, Waterworld, Sons of Anarchy). If you’ve seen the movie, you know. Bruce is in the pool room being watched by two goons. Coates is offering Willis a cigarette but then punches him in the mouth before he can light it. Bruno responds as only he can: ”I seem to have dropped my cigarette, may I have another?” Coates obliges, and just before he lights it, Joe says “Touch me again I’ll kill ya.” Naturally, Coates punches him again, but this time Mr. Willis responds by shoving Coates’ nose into his brain via the palm of his hand. Cinema.

Anyway.

The Last Boy Scout opened during the Christmas holiday of 1991 and ended up grossing $59 million on a $43 million budget. Not bad! Not great, but not bad. The film wasn’t a huge hit with critics, but audiences liked it enough. It ended up having a great life on video and became a staple on cable (which is where I discovered it). Finally, a hit! Maybe it wasn’t the giant blockbuster everyone had hoped for, but for Willis, it was a HUGE step in the right direction and ensured that his career was back on track. Audiences had made it loud and clear that they liked their Bruce Willis in action mode, so what does he do next? Why, he signs up for a special effects driven horror comedy with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, that’s what!

But that’s for next time. Until next time, my friends!