The Last Word is a 1979 film starring Richard Harris. It was the last film directed by Roy Boulting.
It was also known as The Number.
A washed-up inventor, Danny Travis, takes matters into his own hands in a very extreme way when he learns that his house will be condemned and his beloved children left on the street.
Travis is so upset that when a city official comes to evict him from the premises, he takes the man hostage. A television reporter, Paula Herbert, turns public sympathies both for and against Travis, prolonging the story opportunistically as a Los Angeles police captain, Gerrity, attempts to defuse the situation.