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# Latest satire flick about ‘industry’ is a cut above
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/latest-satire-flick-about-industry-is-a-cut-above/
- Published: 2004-09-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:10:43.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

When it comes to movies about making movies, there’s an inherent narcissistic quality that turns off people who aren’t in “the business,” as Tinseltown insiders arrogantly refer to their profession.

But there a r e e x c e p - tions — f i l m s that successfully utilize the peculiar milieu that is a Hollywood production to shine a light on universally recognized facets of the human condition. Robert Altman’s brilliant “The Player” comes to mind and now, having just screened it, so does “The Last Shot.”

With his directorial debut, Jeff Nathanson, the screenwriter of “Catch Me If You Can” and “The Terminal,” has crafted a very clever comedy about dreams, and the extraordinary lengths to which people will sometimes go to realize them.

“The Last Shot” is based on a strange but true story about an FBI agent who pretends to be a movie producer in an elaborate Mafia sting operation in Rhode Island. For the sake of authenticity, Agent Joe Devine (Alec Baldwin) hires an unwitting down and out screenwriter, Steven Schats (Matthew Broderick) to helm the phony project. Both men are true believers — Devine badly wants to climb the ranks at the bureau; and Schats is desperate to make movies — but as the operation grows and the film actually goes into pre-production, the duo face the sobering prospect of never grasping that which is seemingly within their reach.

Baldwin and Broderick make for a great team with exceptional comedic chops, and they get tremendous support from a cast that includes Toni Collette, Ray Liotta and Tony Shalhoub. (Rated R for language and some sexual content. Running time: 93 minutes)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/092404-17_01.jpg)

(Photo: BY DAN DUNN Special to the Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 24, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092404.pdf?ref=smdp.com)