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The Last Detail

The Last Detail is a 1973 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby, from a screenplay by Robert Towne, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Darryl Ponicsan. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, and Carol Kane. It follows two career sailors assigned to escort a young emotionally withdrawn recruit from their Virginia base to Portsmouth Naval Prison in Maine.

Plot

On Saturday, December 15, 1973, Navy lifers Signalman First Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky and Gunner's Mate First Class Richard "Mule" Mulhall are awaiting orders in Norfolk, Virginia. They are assigned a shore patrol detail escorting 18-year-old Seaman Larry Meadows to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Kittery, Maine. Meadows has been court-martialed, dishonorably discharged, and sentenced to eight years in the brig for stealing $40 from a charity fund run by the wife of the Norfolk Naval Base Commander. Buddusky and Mulhall are given one week to escort Meadows to the Naval Prison at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Despite their initial resentment of the detail and their realization that the prisoner is a kleptomaniac who steals compulsively, Buddusky and Mule begin to like Meadows as they escort him on a train ride through the wintry northeastern states. They decide to show him a good time before delivering him to the authorities.

Awards