Texasville

Since nothing could be as good as last picture show- I am glad this took a turn to comedy- Duane is a mess- he says things to his wife like " I'd like you to wear something I didn't have to read" . But Annie Potts is great as his sassy wife. I was a little disappointed by Cybill Shepherd's character-- I thought Jacy would grow up more spunky-- but Cloris Leachman matured nicely in her character... I was most confused by what happened to Sonny-- he truly did get tired in the head.... but the sub-plots of the stud son, the daughter who went on a honeymoon every time she met a boy and the twins tricks keep the film moving... but its no equal to the original story of the Texas town immortalized in Last Picture Show.

With the exception of Timothy Bottoms and Cloris Leachman, and the addition of Annie Potts, the acting fell far short of its predecessor, The Last Picture Show. I felt as if fading legends returned for one last curtain call, leaning upon greying memories of better times rather than reaching in and dusting off their talents. Bottoms and Leachman were, again, superb. Quaid was immediately tiresome.

Another note: the sound (not soundtrack) left something to be desired - many scenes had background levels that over-rode the centerpiece of attention. I watched it twice and still was distracted by it. Reviewing the Soundman's credits (over 300 items), I was unable to discern if this film was a fluke or if it was his trademark - because none of the listed items had I ever had the inclination to watch.

So, overall, this is a 3 of 10, unless you catch it for Bottoms, Leachman and Potts.. then an 8.

Good sequel to the superb The Last Picture Show, also directed by Peter Bogdanovich, 19 years earlier. Whereas The Last Picture Show dealt with the decline of small-town America, Texasville shows it still exists, but barely. Focuses on the lives of several middle- aged people, mostly the main characters from The Last Picture Show, and how their hopes and dreams have faded and reality is less pleasant.

The feeling of nostalgia, of tedium, of lives going nowhere, yet hope within that emptiness, is tangible. Among this drama, there is great humour, however.

Superb performances all round. This role was probably the one that turned Jeff Bridges into the downtrodden, bedraggled anti-hero, and launched countless roles for home. Cybill Shepherd is solid as Jacy. Next to Bridges, the star turn belongs to Annie Potts who is simultaneously beautiful, funny, sassy and intelligent as Karla.

Ultimately doesn't really make as big an impression as The Last Picture Show, and sort of fizzles out towards the end. The destination is quite tame, but the journey is worth taking.

Well, I want to know what the hell happened how can this movie be the sequel to the wonderful "Last Picture Show". "Picture Show" gave us an excellent story and compassionate characters. "Texasville" is awful, Cybil Shepard is so annoying as Jacy and who cares about her pathetic life now...she was a spoiled brat in "picture Show" and in this she is the same but now she is a lead character, in the "Last Picture Show" she was a side character as is Jeff Bridges character Duane. Timothy Bottoms was the star and in "Texasville" he is nothing, his story line is awful. He just wonders around with a tired head and a sad lonely life. Maybe Timothy Bottoms does do a good job looking sad, lonely and depressed I wonder why??. Sonny was so great in "Picture Show" why didn't he get a decent story?? Why is there no story in Texasville at all. The big thing is Duane is in debt and him and Jacy are in a stupid play together. I don't think they even mention that Jacy and Sonny ran off and got married or if they did mention any thing from the past it was short and sweet like the love story between sonny and cloris leachman character, Ruth Popper what happened there. She says "He loved me once" so now he stays in my trailer and she exercises all the time in the movie maybe because she once was married to a gym teacher who knows maybe somewhere there is symbolism but unfortunately I never cared enough to look. The movie has a small climax where I think Sonny might have attempted suicide well then jeff bridges suggest that they all go and get breakfast at the local DQ and everything will work out. Of course the viewer never finds out because that would have been to hard to put substance into this movie. So La DI Da it's over. I mean I know Cybil Shepard and Jeff Bridges are the most popular actors in the movie but to move so far away from the original and really just make a depressing sad little movie. Everybody is having affairs and all the kids are brats no wonder this is the most dysfunctional town in the world. I wasted two hours on this film and now I have to go rent the original to get this bad taste out of my mouth from Texasville.

Some worthwhile performances here. The film does suffer from comparisons to "The Last Picture Show". That film was astonishing in its originality and has become iconic. "Texasville" neither aims so high, nor lands so hard. Nonetheless, the whole atmosphere of sadness calls to mind TLPS, as does the lack of a musical score, the only background being radios or whatever that the characters also hear. The adult characters, who were teen-agers in TLPS never seem to have grown up. At all. As Ebert said, I wonder what Sam the Lion would think of all these people. I seem to have missed all the sex going on in the '50's (OK wasn't born yet) and missed it again in the 80's. Maybe I'll catch that train SOMEDAY.

Jeff Bridges put in a great performance here, just as he always does. He never seems to play a character you don't believe. This in films as disparate as this one, "The Fabulous Baker Boys", and, say, "The Big Lebowski". Cybill Shepherd was very good and very beautiful. It probably took some amount of courage for a former model/beauty queen to take this role, that explicitly compares her middle-aged looks to her youthful pulchritude. I thought she still looked great. (But then, I'm middle-aged) Cloris Leachman showed her dramatic talent to wonderful effect. But, saving the best for last, I thought Annie Potts basically stole the show. She was gorgeous, and she so totally nailed her character. Acting doesn't get much better than this.

Anyone who liked TLPS (and that's almost everyone) should see this sequel. But don't carry into it unrealistic expectations.