The Last Boy Scout

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And then some.

"This is the '90s. You don't just go around punching people. You have to say something cool first." —Joe Hallenbeck

The Last Boy Scout is a 1991 action film starring Bruce Willis as former Secret Service agent Joe Hallenback, now working as a private detective, and Damon Wayans as retired professional football player Jimmy Dix. The two join forces to solve the murder of Dix’s girlfriend Cory (played by the then-obscure Halle Berry), leading them into a conspiracy and the plotted assassination of a senator. The entire film consists of often violent action scenes and an endless parade of one-liners. Classic example of better than it sounds.

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Tropes used in The Last Boy Scout include:

• Asshole Victim: Mike Matthews, the scumbag private detective.
• Badass Boast: "You touch me again and I'll kill ya."
• Big Bad: Sheldon Marcone.
• Bond One-Liner - The final scene of the movie has the Damon Wayans and Bruce Willis discussing future use of Bond One-Liners.
• Boom! Headshot!: Milo kills McCaskey this way.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Darian. However, she comes from an extremely troubled home so it's understandable (mostly).
• Card-Carrying Villain: Milo

Joe: You're the bad guy. Milo: I am the bad guy.

• Cruel and Unusual Death: Milo is shot by several SWAT officers and falls into the blades of a police helicopter.
• Chekhov's Gun: The duo comes across a box of shotgun shells. Later, Jimmy uses one to help Joe, Darian and himself escape Marcone.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment

Milo: Just once, I would like to hear you scream in pain. Joe Hallenbeck: Play some rap music.

• Crapsack World: Taken almost to parodic heights.
  • "Nobody likes you. Everybody hates you. You're gonna lose."
• Deadpan Snarker: Hallenbeck always win the snarking contest against other characters. See below.
• Driven to Suicide: Billy Cole, after shooting several opposing players.

Ain’t life a bitch?

• The Dragon: Milo.
• Drugs Are Bad: Manages to do this in a reasonably subtle way, contrasting Joe's zero tolerance with justifying Jimmy's addiction through his tragic backstory.
• Embarrassing Middle Name
• Eureka Moment: Overlaps with Oh Crap with Joe, as Jimmy hints that the supposed key he tossed into Marcone's fireplace is "the kind that Shred."
• Faux Affably Evil: Marcone and Milo. Both lose their niceness VERY quickly.
• Friend to All Children: Despite his drug problems and short temper, Jimmy is remarkably good with kids, if Darian is any indication because they quickly bond with each other after a little friction.
• Gorn: Brutal moments punctuated by humor. There is a scene where Bruce Willis punches Chet’s NOSE through HIS BRAIN!!!! Also the infamous helicopter scene.
• Helicopter Blender: Milo, after being shot by a SWAT team, falls into the blades of a helicopter. The result is the upper half of his body turning into Ludicrous Gibs.
• If We Survive This

Joe Hallenbeck: "I swear to Christ that if I survive this fucking case I'm gonna dance a jig." He does.

• Jerkass: Mike gives Joe the surveillance job on Cory in the hopes he’d be killed.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Joe. However, it's buried pretty deep under a cover of sarcasm and self-loathing so it's nearly a Hidden Heart of Gold at certain points.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Unintentional, retrospective aversion for modern viewers--yes, they really would kill off Halle Berry's character after a couple of scenes, because when this film was made she was a no-name playing a bit part.
• Little Miss Badass: Darian Hallenbeck.
• Love Hurts: "I wish the sky wasn't blue. I wish that water wasn't wet. And I wish I didn't still love my wife."
• Metaphor Is My Middle Name
• One-Hit Kill

"Told ya."

• Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner - quote on top of the page
  • "Touch me again and I'll kill you."
• Private Detective: Joe Hallenbeck and Mike Matthews.
• Punctuated Pounding
  • "I told ya [BIFF!] if you touch me again [BAM!] I'll KILL YA! [POW!]"
• Sanity Slippage: Billy Cole, after being told by Milo that he’d be killed if he lost the game, consumes PCP and shoots several opposing players before blowing out his own brains.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness - Milo
  • As well as Scrabble Man
    • "The envelope, very smart. See, Jake, here's a man who knows when a situation is untenable."
• Stuffed in The Fridge: Cory. An especially egregious example when you condsider that Joe and Jimmy spend the rest of the movie tossing out flippant one-liners.
• Stuff Blowing Up
• Take Me Out At the Ball Game
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Joe and Jimmy.
• What Would X Do?:

Jimmy: What would Joe do...(Beat) He'd kill everyone, and then smoke some cigarettes.

• World of Snark: The WHOLE movie is flooding with this.