Review by mossgrymk

So so. Couple fine performances from Kay Lenz as a small town tramp and Claude Akins as the mother of all despicable dads helps to elevate this meandering, overly talky film (de rigeur when you ask a great novelist to write the screenplay) slightly above the mediocrity bar. Big problem for me is that I just never bought the basic premise, that a well known country singer would throw over a loving marriage and a successful career to go back home to Doak City Indiana and marry his jilted high school sweetheart. Second biggest problem was John Mellenkamp's dull acting which sure as hell isn't going to get un dull if you're directing yourself. Third biggest problem was scenarist and veteran Texan Larry McMurtry making his Indiana middle border folks sound like they all wandered in from Archer City. Give it a C plus. PS...Nice location shooting in Hoosier country and a good country soundtrack also aid in making the story somewhat digestible.