tostinati

I watched this with a friend, and we both laughed quite a bit throughout, at the right parts. These characters are from the rough-hewn part of society. No apology or rationalization is made for them. They are often their own worst enemies, and seem immune to the idea of planning beyond lunch. I saw in their low key antics a less heavy-handed, less slicked up and franchised Abbott and Costello. If you know Sturges' Sullivans Travels, you will surely recognize in the bonfire scene, (where raiload workers gather in the half light and share a moving sing-along rendition of Abide with Me, capped by Sturges stock company player Harry Tyler singing a wonderfully touching and awkward archaic rendering of The Engineer's Child) a parallel with the later film's movie night scene. I've mentioned Abbott and Costello. I could as well have mentioned George and Lenny. The misadventures of James Gleason and Robert Armstrong convey a little of both. There is room to watch this film in pity, quiet reflection, and quiet laughter. Fans of DJ humor likely won't get it. But if you've seen a few pre-code films and understand the rhythm, timing and relatively freer form storytelling, I suggest you give it a try. We liked it.

Every cartoon writer wants to hit with the next Simpsons or South Park. But minus the critical spark of wit and comic vision, all such attempts are doomed to wallow in the potty-mouthed and potty- minded musings of clear also-ran stand up comic wannabes. Ergo Big Mouth.

We stuck around through the first episode, willing to assume the series would simmer down, maybe deliver a few legit laughs and insights after getting the most transgressive ready-mades out of its system. Didn't happen. We turned off the second episode about ten minutes in, never to look back.

Without the distracting conceit of a demon spraying the room with verbal filth every couple of minutes, this series might have gone anywhere. There are, after all, universal elements of adolescent angst in the basic material. But the writers blew it, settling for -- or perhaps more pathetically, straining to finesse -- rude chuckles for potheads.

Another win for this packager, no question, and another dump on the audience, a part of which will accept any hogslop set down in front of them. Sad.

As has been generally observed, John Ford was making adult westerns long before the release of the high profile 'adult western' High Noon, and he was doing it under the radar of 99% of the critics of his day.

While no Ford, Gordon Douglas directed lots of highly watchable films that likewise never got their due in their time. Doolins is one of these. As a well-known director for hire, Douglas once credited the existence of his entire oeuvre to having a family to feed.

--Fair enough, and a pretty bravely self-deprecating and self-aware attitude in a town of pretentious auteur-wannabes. I'd offer the opinion that Douglas was the average intelligent man making films for his peers. Because of that, his films remain worth a sit-through. (His Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye rivals Walsh's White Heat in energy and noir viciousness as a late Cagney vehicle.)

This is the best Randolph Scott western after the Boetticher films. Place it alongside other fine non-Ford westerns of the era, including Angel and the badman, Winchester 73 and Yellow Sky. It's definitely worth a watch.