Review of The Last Shot (2004) by Aaron N — 05 Jun 2008

Joe Devine: Have you actually seen a person die, watched them bleed to death, seen them take their last breath? I've seen that... many times.

Steven Schats: Why have you seen that?

Joe Devine: ... I used to produce music videos.

Said to be based on a true story, this is a very funny movie about an FBI agent setting up an elaborate sting operation to catch a mobster, by using a wide eyed, wannabe filmmaker and coaxing him into making a movie.

Mathew Broderick and Alec Baldwin head a surprisingly large cast for a small indie-movie, including Ray Liota, Toni Collette, Tim Black Nelson, Tony Shalhoub, and Calista Flockheart, and they are all great. Plus, Joan Cusack shows up for a few minutes of just pure hilarity.

Lots of funny jokes about Hollywood and the hilarious elaborate setup to get this movie made, which goes on and on to become more of a possibility that the FBI might pursue. It becomes funnier for the con that Baldwin puts Broderick through, such as telling him that his movie, titled Arizona, should be shot in Rhode Island.

Then you have the zany performances from Shaloub as a mobster:

Tommy Sanz: It's my face, Willie. The guys back home can't stand to look at me. I thought after the second surgery things would change.

Willie Gratzo: Did you talk to that plastic surgeon?

Tommy Sanz: He said he wanted to take skin from my ass cheeks and put it on my face. I beat that cocksucker with his own chair.

And Collette as a has-been actress:

Emily French: After my nomination, I just... freaked out. Turned everything down that they sent. Then I had a late-term abortion, went into deep depression, got really into coke, moved to Florida for a year and made a bunch of B-movies for my Eurotrash boyfriend, who wrote and directed and made sure I got my tits out in every other scene. The truth is, I was blackballed in Hollywood, because the great Jed Walker claimed that the baby was his, that I had murdered his baby in the fifth month, which, if you had seen it, it clearly was not.

This movie was written and directed by Jeff Nathanson, responsible for screen writing duties on several Spielberg movies. He only managed to put this movie onto a few screens before it left theaters, basically meaning that this is a low profile movie, which should be seen more. Its very funny and filled with great talent.

Joe Devine: At this time, I would like to introduce Fanny Nash, the producer of the hit comedy "No Means No" to discuss proper Hollywood protocol.

Fanny Nash: I am over 35 years old. I am physically unable to bear children. And I pay alimony to my ex-husband, who is a faggot. Yet I am willing to bet that all of you would fuck me over that desk right now if you knew you'd be having lunch with Harrison Ford as soon as you blew your wad. If you wanna carry yourself like you're in the movie business, you need to act like the big dog, Clifford, and remember that everyone in the entire world is desperate to play with your big red balls.