Rancho Deluxe

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.

Two modern day day cattle rustlers cut up stolen cattle while talking about the tooth fairy. Macho ranch owners who at one time used to run beauty parlors. Romantic candlelight dinners that turn into wild sex orgies and last but not least $50,000 steer who tears up a motel room. You also get to see the 'world championship pong game'. This is the very first video game that two of the rustlers play while talking business.

This is just a few of the off the wall ingredients that await you in this thoroughly engaging, thoroughly quirky little charmer. To say it is just quirky wouldn't be doing it enough justice because it is much more than that. Writer McGuane literally takes every cliche and then playfully works against it. It's success comes from it's ability not to betray itself. No contemporary or 'normal' characters and no broad humor. It's flashiness comes through it's subtlety and laid back nature. Like a good western ballad it's sly and knowing without ever looking like it.

This is somewhat similar to McGuane's 92 IN THE SHADE that came out at roughly the same time. Both are good and deal with eccentric characters and humor yet this one fairs better. Mainly because director Perry edits it more tightly. All scenes revolve either around character or story developement. No scenes are excessive in length. Thus you have a better pace and better story momentum.

This is a fun movie to watch over and over. Simply because it is so original and done in a very original way. It also makes a good point about the decline of the modern day west which is and maybe always was just a state of mind.

Slim Pickens has his best supporting role since DR STRANGELOVE.

Filmed on location in Montana which is gorgeous and a real treat since a lot of films aren't done there.

I liked "Rancho Deluxe," although it wasn't double-over-with-laughter funny, it had its moments. The film reminded me of many Peckinpah films since it touched on the "new money" meets "western ways" conflict Peckinpah examined in many movies, particularly in the comedy "The Ballad of Cable Hogue." Indeed, Jack and Cecil are rather anachronistic with their "profession" of cattle rustling, or killing rather, and it was if they were TRYING to get caught. I mean, if you're rustling, wouldn't you just swipe the cow off the range in a trailer instead of SHOOTING it? Interesting to see Waterston as somewhat of anti-authority figure--I say "somewhat" because amidst the wackos in the movie, no one is really an authority--these people would stumble over their own shadows. Enjoyable, and definitely a beer-and-popcorn time passer.

There are three edit-versions I've seen of this. Best is the uncut. Another removes a small sex bit with Patti D'Arbanville topless but it's fine anyway. Another takes out many funny parts for "moral transgressions", loses the whole movie, and shouldn't be seen at all. I won't name those cable stations that show it. This is an important movie. Sam ("Killing Fields") Waterston and Jeff Bridges both really got their careers rolling in this. Slim Pickens climaxed his great body of work. Harry Dean Stanton revived his career. Director Frank ("The Swimmer") Perry got it right, grainy and relaxed like a home movie. Most laid back and brilliant, wit abounds, the scenery stuns, and it makes you feel good. A delight, at least for us of the Baby Boomer generation.