The Essentials: The Films Of Tony Scott

“The Last Boy Scout” (1991)
Friday night’s a great night for football in Tony Scott’s thriller. Involving a tangled conspiracy with elements of score-fixing, political scandal, murder, and pigskin, “The Last Boy Scout” ranks highly amongst action pictures of that era. Part of that comes from Shane Black‘s almost-too-witty script, showcasing a universe where every tense life-or-death situation can be defeated with a punch and a quip. And don’t be misinformed: this is one quip-heavy picture– a profane, misogynist noir with a pitch-black cynicism that showcases characters trying to maintain some semblance of sanity in a world where they remain at the mercy of an overwhelming patriarchy. Bruce Willis, all squinty sarcasm, is matched blow-for-blow by a game Damon Wayans, neither character reduced to buddy movie, comic relief or tough guy archetypes, but both inclined to comment on them. To his credit, Scott hasn’t made a film half as funny since. [B]

“True Romance” (1993)
Were it not for Quentin Tarantino’s excellent screenplay for “True Romance,” in many ways his own version of Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” (hammered home by Hans Zimmer’s riffing on its use of Gassenhauer for the theme), this writer would be unable to champion anything in Tony Scott’s oeuvre. His style, especially from “Enemy of the State” and on, is akin to what Baz Luhrmann does. It simply grates on the senses, punishes the brain with relentlessness, and too often feels like smoke and mirrors, as if Scott never trusts his material enough to let the camera just capture a moment. Not so with “True Romance,” thankfully made well before his move into gonzo stylistics. The pairing of screenwriter and director here (which didn’t work so well for Richard Kelly in “Domino,” unfortunately) is a good fit, with a plethora of memorable characters and dialogue, most notably Brad Pitt’s honey bear bong-smoking pothead and the legendary face-off between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken (“You got me in a vendetta kinda mood”). The original ending was changed by Scott, and for the better; Clarence (Christian Slater) died at the end of Tarantino’s script, which wasn’t necessary. Proof that Scott has the ability to make wise directorial choices, if only he’d get back to that instead of all the flashy, annoying bullshit he’s so enamored with these days. [A-]

“Crimson Tide” (1995)
Yes, “Crimson Tide” is a Tony Scott film, very much so. But it may be remembered these days, at least to the obsessive film geeks of the world, for the contributions of uncredited co-writer Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino, a longtime Scott fan, was called in to punch up the dialogue after “True Romance” on this certifiably great submarine thriller that pits Denzel Washington against the power-mad captain played by Gene Hackman. The scenes that bear Tarantino’s mark might as well be highlighted in blinking neon lights: an early scene in the film where the various crew members talk about their favorite submarine movies (in a wonderful bit of meta-textual knowingness); a discussion about which version of the Silver Surfer is better; and Hackman rattling on endlessly about different breeds of horses, a speech which has the flow of the famous “Sicilian” speech in the pair’s earlier collaboration. As far as submarine movies go, “Crimson Tide” does a sturdy job: Scott choreographs the suspense sequences brilliantly (aided by claustrophobic cinematography by Dariusz Wolski) and emphasizes that the close-knit camaraderie that forms underneath the ocean can just as quickly curdle into something quite dangerous. It’s also worth noting Scott’s often unheralded genius at casting. Tucked beneath and around the cramped submarine sets are actors like James Gandolfini, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Zahn, and Ryan Phillippe. The ominous score by Hans Zimmer, while not quite as enthralling as Basil Poledouris’ work for “The Hunt for Red October,” was still enough to net the composer a Grammy for his work. [B+]

“The Fan” (1996)
Say this for Tony Scott’s laughable suspense thriller: it improves upon the tawdy, overblown Peter Abrahams source material. Credit goes to the hyper-caffeinated director, who clearly knows how to mock the dead-serious atmosphere of the sports media, with Ellen Barkin as the overheated Ahab-with-a-notepad going after star athlete Wesley Snipes. Where it slips up is the portrayal of psycho fan Robert De Niro, who slowly sees his life unraveling as his favorite player struggles to acclimate to his new surroundings. As superstar Bobby Rayburn, Snipes is both a believable athlete and a credible dramatic presence, struggling under the weight of Barry Bonds-level expectations. But Scott’s attempts to get into De Niro’s inner turmoil by switching filters and blaring Nine Inch Nails on the soundtrack aren’t exactly on the level of “Taxi Driver.” “The Fan” remains a curiosity in that it revealed Scott’s strengths in capturing the insane milieu of professional sports in lieu of insight into the mind of the average man. [C]

“Enemy of the State” (1998)
Political thrillers don’t get much more live-wire and jacked-up than “Enemy of the State,” a shiny, cool-blue, lightning-fast “man-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time” movie that served as a critical and box-office comeback for Tony Scott after the drubbing he took for “The Fan.” Mixing “The Conversation” with “The Parallax View” and adding in a few terrific car and foot chases with some stylish shoot-outs, “Enemy of the State” was the fifth collaboration between Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and marked a more dramatically serious trend for the producer (films that immediately followed ‘Enemy’ included “Remember the Titans,” “Black Hawk Down,” and “Veronica Guerin”). Will Smith, fresh off the mega-success of “Independence Day,” was perfectly cast as a hot-shot lawyer who inadvertently comes into possession of a video showing an evil U.S. Senator (Jon Voight, appropriately oily) masterminding a murder. Smith teams up with a reluctant ex-spook (Gene Hackman, terrific as always, doing a riff on his immortal character from “The Conversation”) and goes head-to-head with the NSA in an effort to clear his name. The pacing of “Enemy of the State” is unbelievable as images and plot are hurled at the viewer. But what’s amazing about that approach is that everything can be followed logically and coherently despite the frenetic nature of the filmmaking style. Scott, working with cinematographer Daniel Mindel (who also shot Scott’s aesthetically groundbreaking “Domino”), put cameras in every corner of the room in “Enemy of the State,” mixing various film speeds and stocks with an overall high-contrast, desaturated visual palette, resulting in a film that feels icy-hot to the touch. The camera never stops moving, never slows down, and never gets tired; it’s energetic filmmaking to the max, especially when set to the rhythms of Harry Gregson-Williams’ pulsating musical score. By the time the film reaches its thoroughly clever finale, in which Scott even cribs from himself (“True Romance,” anyone?!), you can’t help but feel out of breath and exhilarated. [B+]