Armand Assante is a pretty decent actor when given the chance. Unfortunately he rarely gets that chance and is more often to be seen in straight to video dross. Which brings us to Last Run…
I bought Last Run in one of W.H. Smiths online sales awhile back. What made me buy it? Simply that it was advertised on the site as The Last Run starring George C. Scott, a 1971 thriller directed by Richard Fleischer. “Wow!” though I “Didn’t know that was out, and at such a silly price too.” So I bought it but instead of Mr Scott I got dear old Armand through my letterbox, in one of his bargain bin masterpieces, because The Last Run isn’t actually out on DVD.
Now I know what you’re thinking – “Why didn’t you send it back?” The honest answer is I couldn’t be arsed, it was so cheap that parcelling it up and cuing at the Post Office…well it was just more trouble than it was worth. So I kept it and it sat there on my shelf gathering dust…until I decided to do a “season” of spy movies on Mine Was Taller.
Which brings us to last night when I decided to finally watch it. I picked it out of the other films I’ve got lined up for future I Spy’s based on a sure scientific formula…I was late getting home and it was short.
Alongside Armand was another capable performer who’s happy to slum it in order to pay the rent, Jürgen Prochnow. Assante’s the old pro gets pulled back in for one last mission and Prochnow is the man he must get safely out of Russia. The Cold War is no more but there are a lot of people who would be happy to see ex-KGB man Jürgen sleep with the fishes, including the Russian Mafia.
The fact that Anthony Hickox, the man who gave us classics like Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth and Warlock: The Armageddon, not only directed the film but also co-wrote should have been a clear warning sign that this wasn’t going to be a lost classic. The film aims to marry realism of le Carré with the action of Bond but lacks the wit for the former and the budget for the latter. Instead it’s ninety minutes of tedium, with Assante overacting while Jürgen just turns up delivers his line and dreams of a day when his mortgage is paid off and he doesn’t need to make tosh like this.
In hindsight I really should have sent it back…
Horror and Western film buff, Marvel comic geek, music lover and occasional gamer. 