The Last of the Finest
| The Last of the Finest | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Mackenzie |
| Produced by | John Davis |
| Written by | Jere Cunningham (screenplay/story) Thomas Lee Wright (screenplay) George Armitage (screenplay) |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jack Nitzsche with Mick Taylor |
| Cinematography | Juan Ruiz Anchía |
| Edited by | Graham Walker |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
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Release date
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March 9, 1990 |
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Running time
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106 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | US$1,531,489 (domestic) |
The Last of the Finest, also released as Blue Heat, is a 1990 film directed by John Mackenzie. It stars Brian Dennehy and Joe Pantoliano.
The film opens at Canyon Park where narcotics cop Frank Daly (Dennehy) is coaching his partners Wayne Gross (Pantoliano), Ricky Rodriguez (Fahey), and Howard Jones (Paxton) during a flag football game. After the game, Daly tells Captain Joe Torres (Darrow) that his team is working on a major bust. He asks Torres to help keep the DEA out of the operation.
Later that night, Daly and his team surveil a massive drug deal at a meat processing plant. However, when Daly radios Torres for backup, the Captain orders him to wait for the DEA to show up. Daly ignores the order. During the raid, Anthony Reece (Gwynne) and his main henchman torch the money earned during the deal, setting the whole plant on fire.
Reece and his henchman drive up to a diplomatic retreat in the mountains to inform their superior, R.J. Norringer (Boyd), about the fate of the money. Cpt. Torres suspends Daly and his team pending an investigation. The team use their free time during their suspension to make good on their promise to install a septic tank at Canyon Park. Through one of their informants, Fast Eddie (Berkeley), Daly arranges for a prostitute to meet with Reece and surveil him further. As Reece waits for the prostitute, Rodriguez witnesses him receive an envelope from someone who he later learns is a DEA agent.
Eddie calls Daly to tell him that Reece was a psycho, and he viciously beat the prostitute. Daly and the team heads to the motel where Eddie and the prostitute are hiding, but before they can get there, Reece's henchman kills them both. Jones chases the henchman, who lays a trap for Jones and kills him.
Daly is charged with violating the terms of his suspension, resulting in Jones' death. Daly resigns in disgust. Gross resigns in solidarity. Rodriguez initially does not want to resign, because being a cop is his whole identity, but he eventually agrees to resign and pursue the case as civilians with the rest of the team. They raise $25,000 for their operation by knocking over some local drug dealers.
The team trails Reece to an event for the Central American Relief Fund, where they witness Norringer give a speech advocating support for Central American rebel forces. On the roof of the building, they videotape Reece meeting with Norringer. They visit retired cop Tommy Grogan (Finnegan), who reads Reece and Norringer's lips to determine that there is a major deal going down the next night.
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