The Last Shot

For other uses, see The Last Shot (disambiguation).

The Last Shot
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Jeff Nathanson
Produced by	Larry Brezner David Hoberman
Written by	Jeff Nathanson
Starring	Matthew Broderick Alec Baldwin Toni Collette Tim Blake Nelson Calista Flockhart Ray Liotta Buck Henry Tony Shalhoub Ian Gomez
Music by	Rolfe Kent
Cinematography	John Lindley
Editing by	David Rosenbloom
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	September 24, 2004
Running time	93
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$464,000

The Last Shot is a 2004 comedy film starring Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette, Tim Blake Nelson, an uncredited Joan Cusack, Tony Shalhoub, Buck Henry, Ray Liotta, Calista Flockhart and Ian Gomez. The movie is written and directed by Jeff Nathanson, who wrote Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal.

Plot

FBI agent Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) has been assigned to cook up an elaborate scheme to take down infamous mob boss John Gotti. He assumes the role of a Hollywood producer and tells all the right lies to enlist a stooge to help execute his sting. He finds unsuspecting wannabe director Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick), who'd do just about everything to get the chance to direct a feature. Schats falls hook, line, and sinker for the pitch, but what Devine doesn't tell Schats is that the movie will never be made. Everything goes according to plan — until Devine and his fellow agents start enjoying their new lives as Hollywood players a bit too much.

Background

The plot of The Last Shot is loosely based on the true story of an FBI sting operation code-named Dramex. The sting operation was run by FBI agent Garland Schweickhardt, who recruited aspiring screenwriters Dan Lewk and Gary Levy to participate unwittingly in a sting operation aimed at ensnaring mobsters and Teamsters union officials in a bribery scheme. Under the pretext of producing a movie, the FBI planned to catch people taking bribes in exchanging for promising not to make trouble when filmmakers used non-union truck drivers and non-union crew members. Shooting actually occurred in several cities including New Orleans and Las Vegas, while in other major cities, evidence was obtained without using an actual crew made up of FBI personnel. As the investigation progressed from city to city, sealed indictments were obtained and only unsealed when the operation was concluded. Many actual events happened during the shooting that were more hilarious than the movie portrays. At one point, the crew was stranded in the desert between LA and Las Vegas by a broken down Rolls Royce. Arriving at the location in Las Vegas, they found a genuine crew already there shooting Nasty Boys (Which, ironically, was about undercover police officers). The grip truck ran into an elderly lady's car the first day of shooting in New Orleans and the crew wound up paying off the lady with hundreds peeled from a roll of bills. The operation eventually led to indictments against five individuals, several of whom were convicted. The movie itself was shut down before serious filming started. Lewk and Levy have yet to make a full-length feature film.

Cast

• Matthew Broderick as Steven Schats
• Alec Baldwin as Joe Devine
• Toni Collette as Emily French
• Tony Shalhoub as Tommy Sanz
• Calista Flockhart as Valerie Weston
• Tim Blake Nelson as Marshal Paris
• Buck Henry as Lonnie Bosco
• Ray Liotta as Jack Devine
• Ian Gomez as Agent Nance
• James Rebhorn as Abe White
• Russell Means as Himself
• Pat Morita as Himself
• Daniel Morton as Nicky's Son
• Joan Cusack as Fanny Nash (uncredited)
• Robert Evans as Himself (uncredited)
• Judy Greer as Girl with Emily French at Movie Premiere (uncredited)
• Eric Roberts as Himself (uncredited)

Reception

At IMDb, the movie received 5.7 points out of 10 from over 2900 reviewers.

External links

• The Last Shot at the Internet Movie Database
• The Last Shot at AllRovi
• Alec Baldwin interview for The Last Shot