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53-641: The Glimmer Man is a 1996 American buddy-cop action comedy film directed by John Gray , written by Kevin Brodbin , and produced by Steven Seagal and Julius R. Nasso . Seagal and Keenen Ivory Wayans star as recently-partnered Los Angeles Police Department detectives Jack Cole and Jim Campbell, whose first case together – the pursuit of a serial killer who murders entire families – reveals connections to Cole's mysterious past. Bob Gunton , Brian Cox , and Michelle Johnson also star. Filming took place on location in and around Los Angeles . The Glimmer Man

106-402: A CD single by Curb Records . On August 25, 2015, La-La Land Records released a limited edition soundtrack album featuring most of Kamen's score, plus Medley's song. The film under-performed expectations given the star power and hype surrounding the then record price paid for the screenplay by Shane Black ($ 1.75 million). It grossed $ 7.9 million in its opening weekend, and the total gross in

159-446: A Q&A for The Nice Guys (2016) that Shane Black's original title was Die Hard . Silver asked if he could take the title for a project he was working on at the time called Nothing Lasts Forever , which eventually became Die Hard (1988). The Last Boy Scout was filmed in 90 days between March 11 and June 9, 1991. Filming took place primarily in and around Los Angeles , California. The football stadium scenes were filmed at

212-506: A call from Milo, a man who warns him to win the game or he will be killed. Cole ingests PCP and in a drug-induced rage, brings a gun onto the field, shooting three opposing players to reach the end zone before shooting himself in the head. Meanwhile, private investigator Joe Hallenbeck, a disgraced former Secret Service agent who was once a national hero for saving the President from an assassination attempt, discovers that his wife Sarah

265-469: A character, the central focus of a private eye story which became The Last Boy Scout . Writing that script was a very cathartic experience, one of the best experiences I've ever had. I spent so much time alone working on that. Days which I wouldn't speak. Three, four days where I maybe said a couple words. It was a wonderfully intense time where my focus was better than it's ever been. And I was rewarded so handsomely ($ 1.75 million) for that script, it felt like

318-602: A congressional investigation into gambling in sports, and Stallions owner Sheldon Marcone. When Joe was in the Secret Service, he witnessed Baynard torturing a woman in a hotel room and assaulted the Senator to save her. Baynard retaliated by having Joe fired for refusing to cover up the incident. When the tape is ruined in Joe's faulty car stereo, Jimmy realizes that Cory tried using the tape against Marcone to put Jimmy back on

371-457: A cop with a dog , but uses the same element of unlikely partnership to create comedic hijinks, such as Turner & Hooch , Top Dog and K-9 . Akira Kurosawa 's 1949 Japanese film Stray Dog , starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura , is considered a precursor to the buddy cop film genre. Other early pioneers of the buddy cop film genre are the 1967 American film In the Heat of

424-408: A different city or foreign country) or role (like requiring police field work of a non-cop, rookie, or office-bound "desk jockey"). In these cases, they are usually guided by the other partner. In his review of Rush Hour , Roger Ebert coined the term "Wunza Movie" to describe this subgenre, a pun on the phrase "One's a..." that could be used to describe the contrasts between the two characters in

477-685: A follow-up to Die Hard . He was reluctant, and rightly so: 'This whole movie is about me saving my wife. I just did that in Die Hard .' So they said, 'OK, let's minimize the wife and, and while we're at it, add a big finale.' There was a general pressure to somehow make it bigger." More problems emerged during post-production, when the original cut of the film turned out be a "borderline unwatchable workprint." Different editors were hired in an attempt to address Scott's tendency for filming excessive coverage with multiple cameras. Editor Mark Helfrich described sorting through "mountains of raw material" to edit

530-522: A hate crime. ... It's mindless, anti-civilization formula for boys who can't get enough." Retrospective reviews praised the writing, the direction, and the chemistry between Willis and Wayans, and some critics noted it as one of the best films in Scott's catalog. In 2022, Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone included The Last Boy Scout on The Best of Bruce Willis: 10 Memorables TV and Movie Performances and said: "The neo-noir thriller The Last Boy Scout

583-400: A little bit of turbulence, he's right away going to throw the guy out of the window and take over the steering." Taylor Negron also remarked that Silver was directly involved throughout the production. Assistant director James Skotchdopole attributed the tension on-set to an "overabundance of alpha males on that project. Bruce was at the height of his stardom, so was Joel, so was Tony and so

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636-463: A political conspiracy involving their former employers. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on December 13, 1991, to mixed reviews and a smaller than expected box office. Retrospective reviews have been more positive, and the film has developed a cult following . During halftime at a football game, Los Angeles Stallions running back Billy Cole receives

689-465: A second party has been massacring households and blaming it on Maynard, whom Cole is forced to shoot in self-defense . Seeking a lead on the "other" Family Man, Cole goes to the home of Sonya Roslov, Deverell's Russian translator and a recent victim of the serial killer. Jack finds out that the Roslovs had tickets to Russia, paid for by Deverell's company. The Family Man makes an unsuccessful attempt on

742-402: A sign that the distributors have detected cinematic rigor mortis before audiences formally withdraw such life-support systems as tickets, popcorn , and the glucose drip of spilled Coke . Leonard Klady of Variety gave the film a negative review, commenting, "For a rock'em, sock'em action thriller, The Glimmer Man is a hopelessly slow-moving, slow-witted shaggy-dog tale that delivers

795-422: A typical film. The cliché was satirized in the film Last Action Hero . While the movie in itself was a buddy cop film (i.e. pairing a fictional cop with a real world boy), the film's police department obligatorily assigned all cops a conflicting buddy to work with, even to the extreme of one officer being partnered with a cartoon cat. A subgenre of the buddy cop film is the buddy cop-dog movie , which teams

848-487: A vindication and like I was back on track. Roger Ebert , commenting on the script, said "The original screenplay for The Last Boy Scout set a record for its purchase price; that was probably because of the humor of the locker-room dialogue, since the plot itself could have been rewritten out of the Lethal Weapon movies by any film school grad." Joel Silver was guaranteed $ 1 million to produce. Silver said in

901-555: A welfare hotel in downtown Los Angeles . When Cole and Campbell storm the hotel to disrupt the weapons deal, Cunningham kills Deverell (because Deverell set up Cunningham for the LAPD, to clear himself of the arms-running charges) and wounds Campbell. Cole fights Cunningham, finally throwing him through a window to be impaled on a wrought iron fence. Campbell jokes that Cole has brought him nothing but bad luck ever since they became partners. Cole says he will keep that in mind, as Campbell

954-414: Is a 1991 American buddy action comedy film directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Shane Black , and produced by Joel Silver . It stars Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans , with Noble Willingham , Chelsea Field , Taylor Negron , Danielle Harris , and Halle Berry . The film follows a washed-up private investigator (Willis) who teams up with a scandalized former football star (Wayans) to uncover

1007-418: Is abducted by Milo. Heading to the stadium to rescue Darian, Joe and Jimmy are captured and escorted to Marcone's office. Jimmy creates a diversion, allowing them to fight their way free. Realizing that Milo plans to shoot Baynard, Joe goes after Milo while sending Jimmy to warn the senator. Grabbing the game ball, Jimmy throws it at Baynard, knocking him down just as Milo starts to open fire. Joe knocks Milo to

1060-415: Is driven off to the hospital. In the original screenplay, which was 114 pages long, Cole was called Calhoun, Campbell was named Leary, and Donald Cunningham was called Abraham. Originally envisioned as a much larger action picture, the film was similar in scope to The Last Boy Scout (1991), which starred Wayans' brother Damon Wayans . Several action scenes were removed to cut down the budget, including

1113-460: Is eventually knocked out by a team of hitmen. Jimmy and Cory leave the bar in separate cars while Joe overpowers the hitman left to dispatch him. When Cory is struck from behind and stops to confront the other driver, she is killed by the hitmen. Jimmy is then fired upon, but is saved by Joe. At Cory's apartment, Jimmy and Joe find a taped phone conversation between Senator Calvin Baynard, who leads

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1166-468: Is having an affair with his friend and business partner, Mike Matthews. Before this, Mike gave Joe an assignment to act as bodyguard for a stripper named Cory. Mike is then killed by a car bomb outside Joe's house. That night at a strip club, Joe is approached by Cory's boyfriend, former Stallions quarterback Jimmy Dix, who was banned from the league on gambling charges and alleged drug abuse. While Cory and Jimmy exchange conversations, Joe waits outside and

1219-418: Is on some level (also) trash — bookended by wildly over-the-top action sequences at football stadiums — elevated not only by director Tony Scott's self-awareness of how ridiculous it all is, but by the sheer force of Willis' performance as a disgraced Secret Service agent turned seedy private detective" Shane Black and Tony Scott both expressed dissatisfaction with the final film, and said in later years how

1272-708: Is the other Family Man, whose killings were confused with Maynard's. Johnny also reveals Smith's partnership with Deverell. The detectives confront Smith, who reveals that Deverell has been smuggling chemical weapons into the USA from Russia and selling said arms to the Serbian underworld. Smith is arranging contacts for the deal, which is being cut by the Russian Liberation Fighters (the Organizatsiya ). The sale has been scheduled to take place at

1325-513: The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and San Diego Stadium . The movie had a very troubled production. Conflict and arguments flared between Joel Silver, Bruce Willis and Tony Scott. Although they partner up in the film, Willis and Damon Wayans hated working with each other. Silver was described as "insane, with long, horrible fits of sanity," and was compared to a fighter pilot riding as a passenger. "As soon as you hit

1378-410: The 1987 film Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover . The genre was revisited multiple times by Lethal Weapon creator Shane Black , who went on to write The Last Boy Scout , Last Action Hero , Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , and The Nice Guys , all of which play off the mismatched-partners (if not always specifically cops) theme. The Last Boy Scout The Last Boy Scout

1431-594: The CIA - may be connected with the killings. Cole contacts Smith, who (unbeknownst to Campbell and him) has been working with local crime boss Frank Deverell. Cole and Campbell receive a tip that leads them to Christopher Maynard who insists that the Family Man murders were actually committed by more than one killer. Only the slayings that occurred before Jack arrived in Los Angeles were Maynard's work; more recently,

1484-819: The CIA, Cole–versed in Buddhism and unaccustomed to working with others–has become a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Cole is partnered with Detective Jim Campbell, who has little patience for Cole's New Age philosophies and "outsider" attitude. Cole and Campbell must set aside their differences when they are assigned to track down a serial killer known as "the Family Man", named for his habit of killing entire households. The Family Man's latest victims turn out to be Cole's ex-wife Ellen and her current husband Andrew Dunleavy. When Cole's fingerprints are found on Ellen's body, Campbell and he suspect that Smith - Jack's former superior in

1537-530: The Night and 1974's Freebie and the Bean . The genre was later popularized by the 1982 film 48 Hrs. , starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte , then also the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop along with its 1987 sequel Beverly Hills Cop II , all three are among the most successful buddy cop films. The genre was further popularized by the 1986 film Running Scared starring Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal and

1590-501: The United States and Canada was $ 59.5 million. Internationally, the film grossed $ 55 million for a worldwide gross of $ 114.5 million. Reviews were mixed, and some critics cited the Christmas time release for such a violent film as a reason for its somewhat underwhelming box office. Although the film was not a blockbuster, it helped Bruce Willis recover his star status after the disastrous Hudson Hawk and became hugely popular in

1643-418: The actors room to stretch out." Variety described the plot as "a haze of barely connected story lines about political corruption, pro-football, gambling, infidelity, and blackmail [where] all the questions are answered by another car chase, smashing someone in the face or shooting someone in the forehead." In a highly critical review, Desson Howe of The Washington Post called it "the filmic equivalent of

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1696-460: The bombing of a boat owned by Campbell (who lived on a houseboat instead of an apartment), an encounter between Cole and a SWAT team, who have raided his house, and the final confrontation/gunfight at the LA museum. Roland Joffé was originally considered to direct the picture. Brian Cox 's character Mr. Smith was originally intended for Steven Seagal's Under Siege co-star Tommy Lee Jones , and he

1749-405: The death scenes in the film. The film's score was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen (who also scored Hudson Hawk that year), his only work for Tony Scott. Bill Medley performed the song "Friday Night's A Great Night For Football", written by Steve Dorff and John Bettis , on screen during the opening credits (the song is also reprised over the end titles); the song was released as

1802-798: The edge of the stadium light platform, where SWAT officers shoot him before he falls into the moving rotor blades of a police helicopter. The briefcase of money is recovered and Marcone, having escaped with the rigged briefcase, is killed when he opens it at his estate. The next day, Joe and Sarah reconcile, and Joe and Jimmy decide to become partners. Other actors in the film include Eddie Griffin as The Strip Club DJ, Sara Suzanne Brown as Stripper, Ryan Cutrona as Harp, Michael Papajohn as Hitman, Jack Kehler as The Scrabble Man, Manny Perry as Cigar Thug, Rick Ducommun as The Pool Owner, and Morris Chestnut as The Locker Room Kid. Singer Bill Medley , and Sports Commentators Verne Lundquist , Dick Butkus and Lynn Swann appear as Themselves. The film

1855-407: The even-tempered partner having more patience and experience. These films sometimes also contain a variation on the good cop/bad cop motif , in which one partner is kinder and law-abiding, while the other is a streetwise, "old school" police officer who tends to break (or at least bend) the rules. Another frequent plot device of this genre is placing one of the partners in an unfamiliar setting (like

1908-436: The experience as one of the most frustrating jobs of his career and has often declined to discuss it in detail, although he did mention in a podcast interview that several editors were hired and then fired before him, and that Warner Bros. began testing the movie before it was completely finished. Studio executives fretted about the expanding budget, while less-than-enthusiastic reactions from a test screening audience, as well as

1961-407: The film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Buddy cop film Frequently, although not always, the two heroes are of different ethnicity or cultures. However, regardless of ethnicity, the central difference is normally that one is "wilder" than the other: a hot-tempered iconoclast is paired with a more even-tempered partner. Often the "wilder" partner is the younger of the two, with

2014-416: The film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying it was "a superb example of what it is: a glossy, skillful, cynical, smart, utterly corrupt and vilely misogynistic action thriller." Owen Gleiberman praised it as "a cheerfully disreputable buddy thriller that also happens to be one of the most entertaining movies of the season ... [and] gives

2067-497: The film was an overall box-office flop, grossing only $ 20,351,264 in the United States and Canada and $ 41.8 million worldwide, against an estimated production budget of $ 45 million. The film received mostly negative reviews from film critics. Lawrence Van Gelder , writing for The New York Times , did not like the film. He wrote, Short on suspense, routine in its action and monotonous in its performances, this movie opened yesterday without [the] benefit of press screenings, usually,

2120-403: The first cut: "There was more footage shot for The Last Boy Scout than on any film I had ever worked on." He recalled with incredulity that the work of previous editors appeared to have been rejected, taken apart and put back into the daily reels: "There were still splices all over the place." Veteran action film editor Mark Goldblatt was also brought in to work on the film. He later referred to

2173-449: The jolts, but lacks the juice necessary for high-voltage entertainment." On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has a score of 11% based on 27 reviews with the consensus: "A grimy, humorless glimpse of Steven Seagal's direct-to-video future, The Glimmer Man fails to shine." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 33% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

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2226-490: The lives of both Cole and Campbell, blowing up the latter's apartment. The Family Man is revealed to work for both Deverell and Smith, who have murder contracts out on both of the detectives and also on Johnny, Deverell's own stepson. Cole and Campbell question Johnny's girlfriend, Millie, who tells them where to find Johnny. The detectives trick and kill a hitman sent by Johnny's stepfather. Johnny informs Campbell and Cole that Donald Cunningham, Deverell's private security chief,

2279-422: The scene in which Cole kills Maynard. Due to his spiritual beliefs, Seagal did not want to kill villains in his movies anymore. Tobolowsky convinced Seagal that Maynard was a deeply unhappy person and killing him would allow for reincarnation and redemption. Seagal agreed and the scene was filmed as written. Months later, however, Seagal wanted to change the scene to show that Maynard survived the shooting. Tobolowsky

2332-411: The senator and frame Joe for the murder. Joe is taken to a wooded area and forced to hand a briefcase with money to Baynard's bodyguards, and Marcone's men surreptitiously switch it with a briefcase containing a bomb. Joe is rescued by Jimmy and Darian, and acquires both briefcases after running the bodyguards and Milo off the road. However, Milo survives and while Darian is left to wait for the police, she

2385-404: The team, prompting Marcone to send the hitmen. Joe saves Jimmy from another car bomb, and tricks two hitmen into blowing themselves up. However, the explosion destroys the remaining evidence. At Joe's house, Jimmy attempts to use cocaine in the bathroom. However, Joe catches Jimmy and kicks him out. As Jimmy leaves, Joe's daughter Darian asks him to sign a football trading card. She states that Joe

2438-431: The unlikeable character played by Willis, did little to allay these concerns. When editor Stuart Baird was hired, the film finally took a positive turn. Baird had been brought in to help re-edit other troubled productions, including Tango & Cash (1989) and Demolition Man (1993). Some later cuts were done with the film's graphic scenes after it was originally rated NC-17, which explains quick-cut edits in some of

2491-466: The video rental market. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: " The Last Boy Scout is as explosive, silly, and fun as it does represent the decline of the buddy-cop genre." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

2544-434: Was Shane. There were a lot of people who had a lot of opinions about what to do. There were some heated, early-Nineties, testosterone charged personalities on the line. It was a 'charged environment,' shall we say." Writer Shane Black had to wrestle with the script. "I was forced to do more rewriting on that movie than on anything else I've done. There was tremendous pressure from the studio to get Bruce Willis and have this be

2597-488: Was a fan of Jimmy's and never watched another game after he was banned from the league. Learning of Mike's affair with Sarah, the police assume that Joe killed him and move to make an arrest. Milo, Marcone's top henchman, captures Joe first and shoots a detective using Joe's gun. Marcone has been buying Senate votes to legalize sports gambling, but Baynard tried to blackmail Marcone for $ 6 million. Aware of Joe's history with Baynard, Marcone explains it would be cheaper to kill

2650-547: Was attached to the film before leaving shortly before filming began. Cox replaced him on very short notice. The film was shot on location in and around Los Angeles, California. After the filming was completed, Warner Bros. conducted additional editing to make it faster and appear more like previous Steven Seagal movies. Cut scenes included several comedic and dramatic exchanges between Campbell and Cole, as well as several scenes of Cole's wife Jessica, played by Michelle Johnson. According to Stephen Tobolowsky, Seagal wanted to change

2703-607: Was based on an original script by Shane Black . He wrote the script after having taken a two-year break from writing, triggered in part by the end of a relationship. The Geffen Film Company outbid other companies, paying a record $ 1.75 million for the script, with over a $ 1 million guaranteed up front. Black later recalled: I was busy mourning my life and, in many ways, the loss of my first real love. I didn't feel much like doing anything except smoking cigarettes and reading paperbacks. All things come around. Time passed and eventually I sat down and transformed some of that bitterness into

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2756-527: Was brought in to overdub lines to indicate that Maynard was still alive, though this was not used in the final cut. Seagal wrote two original songs for the film, "Bulletproof" and "Snake", performed by the Jeff Healey Band and Taj Mahal , respectively. Guitarist Trevor Rabin , formerly of Yes , composed the score, his first as a film music composer. The film debuted at number two at the box office behind The First Wives Club , but despite this,

2809-485: Was released in the United States on October 4, 1996, by Warner Bros. It received mostly negative reviews from film critics and grossed $ 41.8 million against a budget of $ 45 million. Jack Cole was once a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative known as "the Glimmer Man", because he could move so quickly and quietly through the jungle that his victims would only see a glimmer before they died. Having retired from

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