Dancer, Texas, le rêve de la ville

Some reviewers have referred to "Dancer, Tex Pop. 81" as a "Last Picture Show"-lite. How wrong. "Last Picture Show" was dark and depressing; focusing on death, decay and lost hope. "Dancer, Tex Pop. 81", although also set in an extremely small Texas town, is about choices, all of them good. It balances the joys and benefits of small-town life against the youthful yearning to experience the unknown. The movie follows the town's high-school graduating class of all of five students; four young men and a lady. Years ago the men had pledged a sacred oath to leave town together for Las Angeles immediately after graduation. Now three of the four are not so sure. To stay or to go? That's it in a nutshell, as a weekend's events unfold before the fateful bus journey. This is a feel-good movie in the tradition of "American Graffiti". Not nearly as good, but certainly good enough for a night's rental.

Dancer, Texas isn't a perfect film, but at least it's watchable. Initially the cast didn't really turn any heads or catch my attention, but the naturalness the actors encompassed in their characters was quite endearing. Considering the lackluster filmographies of the four main characters, this film will be a standout in their careers.

What I especially enjoyed was the fact that the film didn't poke fun at small town life. While small town people are often times ridiculed in most films, McCanlies tries honoring them by portraying their humility and honor. What I especially liked was how slow the film was, a perfect juxtaposition to the speed of small-town life. The only thing I was somewhat down on was the lack of development in terms of father-son relationships. While Terrell Lee's relationship with his father was revealed quite nicely, we didn't get much in the way of Squirrel's or John's father.

Beyond that one little oversight, I felt the film had a solid enough ground to stand on.

OK, for all you people who came from "smalltown, America" who are complaining about this, you should really think about it. This was a really great movie, that shows that you have it all if you just take a look at what you think you are missing. I grew up in Southern Ca, and i moved to a small town when i was 21, but even growing up in a town just shy of a million people, i got an appreciation for it when i left that i would have never had, had i stayed there. This was a great movie, one i would recommend to anyone looking for a good way to spend an evening. not only does it show that a movie can be good without being raunchy and filled with sex, its worth the time that you spend watching it. I would watch it again.

Before getting the movie, I was puzzled at the sharp disparity in the comments here. Now I think I understand them!

A character in the movie says something like this: "Some people aren't meant to live in a small town. Some can't live anywhere else." There's truth to that, and I think it's reflected in the differing responses to the movie here.

If you have experienced small-town life, and either love it or at least are wryly comfortable with it, you'll like this movie a lot. You'll feel you've met these people, you've been to their church, you've been at their picnics. You'll enjoy the scenery, the decent neighborliness, the conversations, the characters.

If you're more of a big-city type, you'll be very impatient. Nothing "happens"! No heads explode, no alien invasions, abductions, or even flyovers. No sex, virtually no profanity, no fist-fights. Everyone keeps most of his clothes on. Kids love and respect their parents and families, even when they're a little daft. People fight, but basically care about each other. It's boring - to some!

I offer no judgment, just this filter to help you decide whether the movie's for you. If you like movies that make you ache for small-town life, you'll like this. If you need action and adrenalin, you may very well not. I like both, and I liked this movie.

This movie was a like a trip back home for me. I grew up in West Texas, and I always knew in that process that I would one day leave it. By no plan or design, somehow it happened, in many stages. Ultimately, where did I find myself? In California, of course.

Now looking back with the help of this movie, I see the simple good of the life I lived back then, when life was slow, plodding even, but placid and enjoyable.

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 provides a window back in time to the life we used to be able to live. I especially enjoyed the halting conversation between the two ranchers, a conversation of one and two word sentences. These two were so tuned into one-another that they needed very few words to express their ideas, thoughts, and concerns. People should be more like that today.