The sadness of Shane Black's life reflected in the most expensive screenplay in history for the unfortunate masterpiece "The Last Boy Scout"

The original blaxploitation buddy movie

"Buddy movie" literally means "a movie with a buddy partner." In other words, it is a movie in which two characters (usually detectives) work hard to solve a case. In the original buddy movie, "The Silver Gun," made in 1970, two black detectives (with the amazing nicknames "Gravedigger Jones" and "Coffin Ed") chase down bad guys who are fighting over money in the Harlem district of New York. The movie is said to be the first "blaxploitation" movie, which is an entertainment movie for black people, and Spike Lee paid tribute to director Ossie Davis, having him appear as an actor in his films many times.

"Silver Gun" was a huge hit around the world, and since then, the "buddy movie" has become a standard format for Hollywood action movies. The advantage of this format is that it makes it easier for each character in the pair to stand out. By setting each character's personality completely different, in other words making them an "unbalanced pair" (a nostalgic expression), a synergistic effect is created in which they complement each other. Furthermore, by having one character take on the role of the boke (antisocial and extreme behavior) and the other the tsukkomi (reprimanding and criticizing), like in a comedy duo, it creates a rhythm in the action and conversation, which helps give the movie momentum.

“The Last Boy Scout” (c)2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.

In order to maximize the effect of this type of "buddy movie," many works were made in the 1980s that put a lot of effort into creating a gap in the personalities of the characters who were paired together.

" 48 Hours " (1982) pairs up white detective Nick Nolte and black criminal Eddie Murphy. " Red Bull " (1988) sees Soviet detective Arnold Schwarzenegger and American detective James Belushi wreaking havoc in Chicago . There are also " Dawn of the Dead Cop " (1988) in which the partner detective turns into a Dawn of the Dead , and " Alien Nation " (1988) in which James Caan teams up with an alien. In any case, it is considered best to have as much difference in the personalities of the two characters as possible, and it feels like every imaginable "buddy" pair was squeezed out in the 1980s.

“48 hours” preview

In the midst of this, "The Last Boy Scout" came out in the early 1990s, and the author believes that the reason this film stands out among other buddy movies is largely due to the creativity of the renowned screenwriter, Shane Black.

Screenwriter who shows off his authorship with buddy movies