While his career had its origins and conclusion outside of the decade, the 1970s were the period in which Hal Ashby did his greatest work, with nearly every film he produced during this era being masterpieces in some way, and where nothing he made after 1979 being worth much, residing in relative obscurity that is only overcome by those who are fond of the director. Choosing a standout film from this period is difficult – we all have our personal favourites (I am obviously partial to Harold and Maude, a film that could only have been made by a director as ambitious and compassionate as Ashby), but you truly can’t go wrong with selecting any of them as his finest work. The Last Detail is often seen as one of his highest peaks, a fascinating and wickedly funny satire that focuses on a pair of Navy officers who are tasked with transporting a young recruit to the military prison on the other side of the United States, the trio forming an unlikely bond on this cross-country journey that sees them finding unexpected common ground. It’s the quintessential work of New Hollywood – aesthetically simple, beautifully-written and well-performed by a cast of exceptional actors, and it’s hardly a surprise that it has become a classic of this era, since everything that made this period so important in the development of the industry can be found embedded deep within this film. Ashby’s importance may exclusively be as a bridge between the Golden Age of cinema and New Hollywood, but his subversive directorial gifts and ability to provoke some truly exceptional ideas through a relatively simple narrative made him someone whose work is vital to seeing the change in storytelling trends, and The Last Detail being one of the crowning achievements in a very unique career.

Ashby was an outlier in terms of New Hollywood, since his films were often female-oriented, which was slightly rare for a male director during this time (but not entirely impossible, since there are countless filmmakers that centred their stories on women and their role in this crucial moment in American history) – and The Last Detail is his only film during this period that does not explicitly feature any prominent female roles, with the one or two woven into the screenplay not even bearing names. However, this is all purposeful – the film was not only directed by someone who always had a very critical eye for social issues, but written by Robert Towne, whose screenplays often reflected a kind of complexity when it comes to deeper conversations (which is peculiar considering how his career started with a series of films under the direction of the notoriously off-the-wall Roger Corman, who nurtured the careers of several formidable figures in the industry), and told stories that are a lot more nuanced than they appear at first glance. The Last Detail is a steadfast and complex deconstruction of masculinity in a time when the country was plunged into a state of existential despair, with the Cold War (and proxy conflicts like those in Korea and Vietnam) forcing them to redefine the culture around what it meant to be a man – simply being part of the military was not the honourable, valiant exercise it was before, especially since more attention was being placed on the immense psychological and social impact caused by warfare, which had been previously concealed as part of the efforts to shift blame away from the military and their conquests. Very little of this is explicitly explored in The Last Detail, but setting the story amongst a group of Navy officers as they make their way across the country contains many intriguing ideas around the role of the camaraderie and brotherhood of serving your country, as well as the broken promises that come along with it, which are not frequently explored.

The Last Detail is probably most well-known for featuring Jack Nicholson at his peak of popularity – much like Ashby, Nicholson defined the 1970s and embodied the transition to the New Hollywood era, being one of the first starts due to his work with directors like Bob Rafelson and Ashby, who are pioneers of the period. Coming a few years after his breakthrough performances in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, but just before he fully evolved into the actor we recognize with films like Chinatown (which reunited him with Towne) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this film occupies a strange place in his career, where it could be sold on his talents, but not to the point where it was automatically going to be a success due to his presence. He did some of his most interesting work during this period (The King of Marvin Gardens remains his greatest performance), but it’s hard to look at The Last Detail and not see the origins of the persona that would come to define him – off-the-wall, eccentric and able to play both loud and subtle notes, often in the exact same scene (which led to his detractors labelling him as someone who struggles to find a balance between extremes) – and this is precisely why this is amongst his most well-crafted performances to date. The role of “Bad Ass” Buddusky is not made for subtle acting – it needs performers who can commit to the part, running the gamut of emotions and convincing us that this vaguely unhinged man is not only someone with principles, but a firm moral grounding, which is the core of the film. Randy Quaid is also very good (in one of his few truly excellent performances – it’s a shame that his career never crystalized into what it could have been based on his work here), and Otis Young makes an excellent scene-partner for Nicholson, but outside of a few tender moments, never really becomes the focus of the story, which detracts from the buddy comedy structure, and essentially makes The Last Detail a film that orbits around Nicholson, with his two co-stars being very good but ultimately secondary to the story in terms of the impact they make as well-defined characters on their own.

There are many themes that are found throughout The Last Detail, and which keep us engaged and interested in the story that we are witnessing. Primarily, we encounter a trio of characters that are relative strangers at the outset, but forced to be in each other’s presence for a few days as they undergo a journey to the other side of the country. This is a very traditional scenario used in order to explore the concept of unexpected brotherhood, with the fraternal relationship between these three characters being supplementary to the overall theme of looking at different kinds of masculinity. However, this is only partially what makes The Last Detail so intriguing, since a lot of the film is dedicated to looking at America through the eyes of unexpected protagonists – the contrast between the military background of these characters and their actual outlook, which is one that is far more cynical to the country and its treatment of those in its service, leads to some very interesting discussions, and we watch them work their way through small towns and major urban centres as they move across the country, encountering various characters that represent a range of backgrounds and cultures, all of which are starkly contrasted with these three protagonists, who have dedicated their lives to serving a country that seemingly doesn’t have too much interest in giving them anything more than the bare minimum. It may not be the most serious approach in a lot of ways, but it has a nuance that is absolutely incredible when it comes to dissecting beliefs around the American Dream in comparison with the realities faced by many people at the time, which is integral to fully embracing the details of the film.

The Last Detail is the kind of film that works best when we look at multiple different levels. In terms of narrative, it is extraordinarily simple – three men set off on the open road, a clear destination in sight, but not having the knowledge of exactly how they will reach it, leading to a variety of misadventures that not only cause them to narrowly skirt around the edges of trouble, but learn about a country that they thought was easy to understand, but turns out to be far more complex than they initially imagined. If we look at it stylistically, it is typically unfurnished and sparse as we’d expect from a film produced at the time – the emphasis was on the storytelling rather than the aesthetic approach, and the grit and rawness of the film highlight the starkness and poignant story. Ashby was an incredibly impactful director, someone whose ability to plumb the emotional depths and find both pathos and humour within. It’s a film produced at a crucial moment in American history, and its unique narrative approach, as well as its methods for creating memorable characters, allow the film to feel like an organic exploration of both masculinity and the role it played in second half of the 20th century, where perspectives started to change and we saw so many unique stories emerging, some of them being discussed for the first time, making The Last Detail a revolutionary, impactful film with a lot of heart and intelligence about certain issues, all tied together by a filmmaker with a precise vision, and a cast that understands the roles that they are playing carry a lot of meaning, all of which contributes to the execution of this terrific and thought-provoking New Hollywood satire.