At the end, when they're walking away from the brig, Mule mentions stopping off in Baltimore, and B.A mentions going somewhere else (Maybe NYC, I forget)Was it to show that the solitude of being a lifer in the Navy turns you into a loner?
shareThey'd been given a generous amount of time to transport Meadows to the brig, in Portsmouth. When that detail was completed, they still had some time left before they had to report back to Norfolk. Since Buddusky and Mulhall were randomly selected from available personnel to transport Meadows, they weren't really "buddies" or shipmates or anything like that. There wasn't really anything to tie them together. I guess Mulhall had family in Baltimore that he wanted to visit, and I assume Buddusky probably just wanted to go drinking and whoring. I think it underscored how the two of them were from really different backgrounds, and also had different attitudes towards life (Mulhall was clearly the more serious of the two, whereas Buddusky seemed to live for the moment, to drink and have a good time).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that their little adventure of taking Meadows to the brig, fun though it was, didn't exactly turn them into close buddies.
Good answer. I can see where you're coming from. Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't seen this movie in a while, it's still just as good as the first time I saw it. Why did they quit making movies like this?
shareI always liked this movie. It was very much a product of its time, what with the anti-establishment vibe, and the way it portrayed the military in a rather negative light. I also thought it was one of Nicholson's best performances. But judging by a few threads here on the TLD board, some people really don't like the movie that much.
They quit making movies like this I guess because audiences decided they don't want the star character to be an antihero like Badass Buddusky.
In 12 Angry Men as the jurors dispersed, they just went their own way. No regard for anyone else. Joseph Sweeney, was kind enough to seek out Henry Fonda and it was such an appropriate ending, and reminded me of that, reading you posts.
That's good analysis. One thing I'd add about Mulhall, he was serious, because he had to be. Overt racism was prevalent in the early 1970s, and the Military was a refuge of sorts for him. He couldn't afford to screw up in the ways Buddusky could.
One of the great scenes in the film is when Mule and Budd have a heated discussion, and Mule calls him a menace. Guys like Buddusky can be a lot of fun, but he was a first class screw up. He was an old school sailor in many ways, and the dominant theme in the film is the old American institutions rotting from within and crumbling.
This being called 'The Last Detail' is symbolic along these lines.
"For dark is the suede that mows like a harvest"
You make some good points. Very insightful. Thanks for your feedback. This film was a classic, you're not going to find anything like this film with any substance in theaters today.
share[deleted]
I agree, and the trend in film making you mention continued into the
1980s. I consider the decade of the 1980s as a cultural low in modern American history, and the films of the decade reflected this. Films like 'Empire Strikes Back', the Indiana Jones series and 'Tootsie' seem to be typical of the 80's.
Save me from the people who would save me from myself
All good answers. Truth is, they couldn't bare to look at each other, having done something neither wanted to be reminded of. In the book they stay together, sort of, by drinking in different bars across the street from each other.
shareWhy did they return separately?
1) In the military, friendships may be temporary and easily broken as you tend to be transferred a lot. And the two didn't know each other when they first got the detail.
2) Mulhall was more sober and responsible, and may have sensed that hanging with Budduskey might risk getting into trouble. Mulhall was close to his twenty - retirement at 50% pay - and didn't want to risk that.
3) They were different races. That could play a role.
4) Different interests. Budduskey might have wanted a gin-soaked, carousing return to Virginia, while Mulhall might have wanted to hang in a black neighborhood, or just have a more tranquil return to base.