the audience applauded

Good concept, poorly executed.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Blistering performances.

An odd, quirky western that treads an extremely narrow path, but does it not only rather well, but with all flags flying. You really need to see the movie twice to gain an understanding of all the subtle turns in the plot and get a really firm picture of who is who. In my opinion, the picture is stolen by the interaction of Slim Pickens and Clifton James, although I can readily understand that some viewers will side with the characters played by Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston. However, I cannot bring myself to admire a couple who make their living by shooting and decapitating cattle. As in most westerns, the ladies play minor roles but they do have something to say for themselves here, even if they all do knuckle under to the demands of the men. In my view, the movie is far too violent to class as a comedy, but who am I to argue with the movie-makers and most of the press?

1975 to 2013 is a lot of years. I had the sound track on vinyl and had to replace it with an iTunes download. And now I'll probably purchase a digital version of the movie. First time I saw Jimmy Buffet, Sam Waterson, Slim Pickens, Harry Dean Stanton and Jeff Bridges. I can't argue with the "serious" comments posted here. But I do know this, I have the fondest memories of watching this film, constantly talk about it, want to see it again, and again, need to here the music regularly. Few movies stick with me like this, most, if not all of Robert Altman's movies, but this is different and fun and makes me sit up and take notice. Be forewarned, I'm not talking about "GREAT" cinema, just a wonderful and entertaining movie. Books move me, technological writing captures my analytic mind, but this movie was fun and I want more.

Genuine sleeper. Was there ever anyone better at playing a "good ole' boy" than the Hollywood-bred Jeff Bridges. Here he's an upper-class dropout turned Montana cattle rustler, of all things. When he and Indian partner Sam Waterston aren't shooting steers or cavorting with the girls, they're making plans for their Rancho Deluxe where they'll retire in luxury. That is, if inept rancher Clifton James doesn't catch them first. Back in my old Saturday matinée days, rustlers rode horses and captured whole herds, while ranchers gathered in posses and tracked them down. Not now. Instead the boys ride in pickups and chainsaw the steer where it drops, while the two-man posse gets a bird's eye view from a helicopter, not that it does rancher James any good.Chuckles galore in this crafty screenplay that manages some neat twists and a whole truck load of colorful characters. There's James's wife (Ashley), sort of a slick Montana version of Lady Chatterley, along with lucky ranch hand Harry Dean Stanton who makes first-class use of a skinny aspen tree. Then there's broken-down cattle detective Slim Pickens. You know, the guy last seen riding Dr. Strangelove's A-bomb into the smithereens of a Soviet city, along with comely daughter Charlene Dallas who's also an occasional virgin. I hope whoever did the sharp-eyed casting here got a bonus. They certainly deserved one.Actually, my favorite part is when Waterston gets together on a lake bank with wise, old Dad. Now, I was always told that drink was the curse of the working class, or maybe it was work itself. Anyhow, not so, says Dad, at least not so in Montana. Instead, says Dad, Montana's curse is the pickup truck. Everybody stays broke because everybody has to have one. Get a few bucks and what do they do—they buy a pickup, afford it or not. In fact, the state is being impoverished and overrun by these 4-wheel critters. Anyway, it's a humorous and apparently incisive observation from novelist McGuane himself.Then too, for those who've ever wondered where the store-bought flies so beloved by fishermen come from, the movie answers the burning question. And speaking of shotgun marriage, watch Bridges teach the interlopers a lesson in bedroom manners in a humorous bit that stands expectation on its head. All in all, the 90 minutes remains an oddball and unromantic look at the modern frontier. But with the clever script and colorful characters, the movie also amounts to a light-hearted and slyly understated treat.

Never mind the movie, Monsieur Pickens' performance in this film is a significant event in the history of cinema. If he'd never done any other films, except perhaps Dr. Strangelove and Blazing Saddles, he'd live forever in my memory simply for the scene in Rancho Deluxe where he describes his dream of being in Egypt in the days of the Pharaoh, and expresses consternation at having that dream disturbed. And the speech he gives at the end was another of those earth-shattering moments that stick with you like flies to mayonnaise. Ah, what an actor. Every time he's IN the movie, he's the one you're watching to see what he does, because you know it'll be something you'll remember.I've learned over the years that it's the supporting players who make the movie. And in some respects, in many of his other movies, Slim Pickens always seemed a kind of updated Andy Devine, western comic relief but not much else. In this (and in the other two films I mentioned) we get to see another side of M. Pickens. More than a clown, he's a one-man show, as much of a scene stealer as, say, a vaudevillian in a movie full of Shakespearan actors. To tell the truth, the rest of the movie is occasionally disappointing, although Sam Waterston was fascinating to watch, showing a promise which sadly never fulfilled itself. Clifton James and particularly Elizabeth Ashley are great fun. Curt and Burt, played respectively by Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Bright, are more or less adequate. Jeff Bridges acts just like Jeff Bridges.However, hands down, this is Slim Pickens' movie. The man was brilliant, what can I say.