The Last Detail

Two veteran sailors, Buddusky (Nicholson in perhaps his finest performance) and Mulhall (Young) are assigned to a seemingly simple detail: transporting a hapless shlub (Quaid) from Norfolk, Virginia, to a naval prison in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he will serve a harsh eight-year sentence. En route, these two "lifers" take it upon themselves to teach the young man a few things about life, but they end up learning more about how limited their own options are.