Return to Macon County

Great nostalgic road trip for those who remember the 1950's - Johnson is the mechanic and Nolte is the driver on their way to compete in Grand Nationals Drags in California - movie hits on all cylinders with buddy film + cool car film + new guy in town film + evil townie hoods + misguided cop + lesson learned factors all working to achieve the Fabulous Fifties mood. Two or three good female acting roles will keep the ladies interested too - as if seeing Johnson and Nolte in all their pre-hunk hottiness won't attract them anyway. The Don Johnson drag racing scene rivals the James Dean scene in Rebel without a Cause. Soundtrack is superb. This film will appeal to anyone interested in hot rods from the 1950's--1960's up to the 1970's.

Sequel to the hixploitation classic "Macon County Line." Max Baer Jr. produced and co-wrote the original film, but was not part of this production. However the co-writer and director of the original film, Richard Compton returned to write and direct this solidly entertaining sequel, which is essentially the same story as the first film but with a new set of characters. Two young men, not brothers this time, are traveling through the south on their way to race cars in California, but run afoul the local sheriff after picking up a local girl and angering the local hot rodders after losing a race. Although the story and action are inferior to the original film, this film boast a much stronger cast, which includes a before-they-were-famous Nick Nolte and Don Johnson as the two leads. It's clear that both Nolte and Johnson were destined to be stars with their strong screen presence and charisma, especially Johnson. Robin Mattson is also quite good as the local girl they pick up, although she did not go on to have the major career of Johnson and Nolte. Overall, "Return to Macon County" is not a classic exploitation film, but it is a solidly entertaining one.

I just watched this again on one of the rerun cable stations tonight. It takes me back to my youth because I am 63 now. In 1975 when this movie came out I was a the projectionist at a multi-screen drive in movie theater. I was around 21 years old and had just started to do this job for a living.

The picture did so well that it was held-over for at least 4 weeks! That almost never happened in a drive-inn! I remember we had 4 screens and all the projectors in one room over the snack bar. The starting times of the movies were staggered just right so that I could run them all with no mistakes other than an occasional tear in the film which would automatically shut down the machine.

That picture had nearly every car space filled on the weekends and several other nights as well. So, this lot was the full one while the other screens did dismally worse than that. one. By the time I shipped it out I must have seen the car chase scene a hundred times!

I initially rented this movie, because I confused it with Macon County Line (which I have never seen but heard was good). So I came into this movie without any prior knowledge to plotlines or previous recommendations or criticisms. I was pleasantly surprised. I have just finished watching it about ten minutes ago. Although the audience is supposed to be oooohed and aaaaahed by the car chases, I was mostly impressed with the relational dynamics between the three leads. The movie takes two long-time buddies and throws a crazy girl into the mix.

Characters: Bo (Nick Nolte)-Bo is a bit hot-tempered and obviously not the brains of the group. He is the "driver" of the movie's centerpiece, a flashy yellow Chevy. He is loyal, almost to a fault and determined.

Harley (Don Johnson)-Harley seems to be the brainier of the two. He does tend to look out for Bo a bit. He's the "mechanic" of the car.

Janelle (Robin Mattson)-Janelle was a waitress, who suddenly latches onto the two boys, romantically with Bo. She's quite crazy and will do anything.

Plot: Harley has finally put his greatest touch to the yellow Chevy, Bo's and Harley's pride and joy. They are on their way to California to enter the National race, having fun and flings on the side. Along the way, Janelle jumps onto the bandwagon, despite Harley's misgivings. She begins to form a bond with Bo, while Harley is out testing the car. During the test drive, Harley gets into a drag race and wins. The loser claims that Harley cheated, and so the two get into a fight over the $100. In a major sub-plot, the gang gets into trouble with Sergeant Whittaker, who becomes obsessed with their capture.

As I said earlier, I greatly admired how the relationship worked between Harley, Bo, and Janelle. The plot was almost used solely to create the dynamic. Bo feels he must choose between racing (and hence Harley) and Janelle. Harley quietly resents Janelle and rationalizes her craziness is dangerous. Janelle feels the intruder, yet is still a member of their little bunch.

I will point out that this movie is good, but not great. It's good for a one-time viewing.

This is light fair that I found entertaining. I am a big fan of Nick Nolte's body of work and although he was playing a 20 something hot-rodder when he was in his mid 30's he certainly looked young and naive. His partner in this drag race movie was Don Johnson as the mechanic who knew everything there was to know about making a hot rod go faster than any of the local hicks residing in Macon County.

Of course Nick picks up a wild and crazy chick played by Robin Mattson. So Nick and Robin end up in a love-hate-love relationship and Nick never knows how extreme Ms Mattson's actions will take the boys in to more trouble than they can get in all by themselves.

So the film has fast cars, faster girls, the local tough guys and the sheriff chasing Nick, Don and Robin through Macon County. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending but suffice to say the movie creates a bit of havoc on wheels with property damage and a few guys feelings also get hurt. But 'eh, what's two young hot rodder's to do except create action.

And so began an illustrious career filled with action films and TV series for our two young stars. It certainly was worth a watch for the retro cars and music. I wasn't disappointed. I give it a 6 out of 10 rating.