Take the following ingredients: a million dollar script from Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black, the wisecracking talents of Bruce Willis, a plot that takes second place to the action, and enough bullets-through-heads, punch-ups and exploding cars to fill three movies, and what you end up with is a concoction by the name of The Last Boy Scout, which has already proved a surprise hit in the US, especially considering the performance of both Willis' (Hudson Hawk) and director Tony Scott's (Days Of Thunder, Revenge) previous outings.
What little plot there is centres around ex-secret agent-turned-private eye Joe Hallenbeck (Willis), who takes a case protecting an exotic dancer named Cory, only to see her shot to pieces in a gangland-style hit. Saddled with Cory's boyfriend, ex-football player Jimmy Dix (Wayans) as a sidekick, the two begin to investigate her death, leading them to discover corruption in the world of football and politics.
It's very similar to Shane Black's previous scripts, but the action and the fast and funny one-liners almost make the film a five-star, must-see movie in the vein of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. Wayans and especially Willis expertly delivering the lines even in the most unpromising situations - even when he discovers his best friend has been ruffling the sheets with his wife, he manages a comeback with "So, Mike, you just slipped on the floor and accidentally put your dick in my wife?".
The women don't come off as well, with Dix showing little remorse for his late girlfriend, Hallenbeck's daughter portrayed as a foul-mouthed teenager, and the only other female cast members being strippers, but this is a movie for the boys who like watching men being real men - cursing, shooting and fighting - and anyone who likes this kind of wham-bam entertainment will certainly get more than their money's worth.
