Mid-December 1973 was writer Darryl Ponicson's shining moment. Over a period of six days two of his first four novels—'The Last Detail' (Dial Press, 1970) and 'Cinderella Liberty' (Harper & Row, 1973)—had their big screen debuts. Adapted by the estimable Robert Towne ('Chinatown') and directed by Hal Ashby ('Harold and Maude'), 'The Last Detail' stars Jack Nicholson as Billy "Bad Ass" Buddusky, a U.S. Navy petty officer and a "lifer," Otis Young as Gunners Mate 1st class "Mule" Mulhall, another Navy career man, and Randy Quaid as Seaman Larry Meadows. While stationed at Norfolk (Va.) Naval Base awaiting their next cruise, Buddusky and Mulhall are issued .45s and assigned to Navy Shore Patrol. Their mission or "detail" is to escort 19-year-old sailor Larry Meadows to Portsmouth Naval Prison on the southern Maine coast, where Meadows will serve an eight-year sentence for the attempted theft of $40 from a base charity box. The six hundred-mile train trip from Norfolk to Portsmouth can be done in two days but Buddusky insists that he and Mulhall show Meadows a good time before he begins his draconian prison term for such a petty offense. Overnight stops in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston stretch the detail to four days, during which the prisoner and his two guards get drunk together, get into various scrapes, get the virgin Meadows laid, and generally bond with each other—until Meadows tries to escape in Boston. A gritty, expletive-strewn character study of military life at the tail end of the Vietnam era, 'The Last Detail' has been praised by Navy veterans for its authenticity. More than an entertaining and memorable film about male camaraderie, 'The Last Detail' is also an unflinchingly poignant look at tragically stunted working-class lives.
Review of The Last Detail
