Always enjoy Tom Selleck, (Will Cubanks) films and in this picture he plays a rather low key person who loves studying a dictionary and was a former ex-cowboy who has a good friend and sidekick, J D Reed, (Jerry Reed). These two guys decide to travel to Hollywood and they wind up in a freight car which takes them to Nashville, Tenn. where they meet up with many Country Western Music Stars, like Claude Akins, Barbara Mandrell and Roy Acuff which are all cameos. However, Barbara Mandrell had a few lines more than the rest of her other actors. There is plenty of humor and slapstick and Morgan Fairchild, (Kate) gives a great supporting role and also a double role to perfection. If you like to see a very young Tom Selleck, you will enjoy a completely different acting by Tom. Enjoy.
9 Reviews
The first country-good-ole-boy-buddy-comedy-murder-mystery?
gridoon202426 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
"Concrete Cowboys" is a rather unusual mix of buddy comedy, country musical (with several real-life singers appearing as themselves) and murder mystery. It does fairly well in all departments: Tom Selleck and Jerry Reed (who also sings the amusing theme song) have a comfortable chemistry, and the mystery plot has one or two good surprises (and even lying flashbacks!). The problem with the film is that it's too laid-back for its own good - a tighter script would have helped. Apparently this was followed by a short-lived TV series, where Selleck was replaced by another actor - which is probably why the series failed. **1/2 out of 4.
Kitch
BobTheCopywriter10 April 2001
If you remember the Smokey and the Bandit Series, this could be best summarized as a what if Smokey had been the Snow Man's sidekick instead of the other way around. I remember as being a hilarious show. It ain't Shakespeare. It ain't even Monty Python. But it is funny in a unique late 70's sit com on film kind of way.
Extremely Corny
Uriah4318 September 2013
Two drifters from Montana named "J.D. Reed" (Jerry Reed) and "Will Eubanks" (Tom Selleck) arrive in Nashville needing a place to stay. As luck would have it, a person they met a couple of weeks prior by the name of "Lonnie Grimes" (Randy Powell) offers them the comfort of his home while he is away in Memphis. Not realizing that Lonnie is a private detective they are surprised when a young lady named "Kate Harper" (Morgan Fairchild) comes to the house and offers them a thousand dollars to find her missing sister, "Carla" (also played by Morgan Fairchild). One thing leads to another and soon both J.D. and Will are escaping one attempt on their lives after another while they pursue leads all over Nashville. Now, obviously being a "made-for-television" movie it require that the script had to be "tamed down" to accommodate a general audience. I understand that. Even so, there was no excuse to waste the talents of two decent performers like Tom Selleck and Morgan Fairchild with such a ridiculous plot, extremely corny dialogue and repeated unsuccessful attempts at humor. Again, what a waste of talent.
Laidback and episodic
Leofwine_draca30 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this oddity under the title RAMBLIN' MAN. It's a broad, laidback kind of production that trades on the easygoing rural charm of something like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, except it's nowhere near as funny. The story is told in short chapters, which is an odd touch that makes it feel cheap, and features a pre-stardom Tom Selleck alongside Jerry Reed as a couple of cowboys having adventures in Nashville. The likes of Claude Akins show up in cameos throughout, but the film simply isn't very interesting and isn't very funny; oddly, it was written by former Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster, who perhaps was a bit out of his depth with it.
Laconic Vs. Loquacious?
AirBourne_Bds9 December 2006
I loved the illustrations for each chapter of the flick, I was just annoyed it never listed who did them...
This hokey country & mystery was really Jerry Reed's show, he had a Top 5 hit in the 70's "When You're Hot, You're Hot (When You're Not, You're Not)" that even became a popular catchphrase T-shirt, Tom Selleck either pre-Magnum or same time and hedging his bets played the studious and mostly quiet itinerant rancher.
The plot had some pinholes but not really obvious as Jerry Reed wove his spell of brash down-home-isms and Tom Selleck playing the puller of butts from frying pans & fires.
The pilot-debut pulled out a good set of stops to hit the ground running; invite Roy Acuff, Barbra Mandrell and Ray Stevens to do cameos as themselves.
There were chase-scenes and there were sex, lies & Nashville but Selleck's character summed up Jerry Reed the best in two quotes from the film, "You'll either be rich or in jail," along with "J. D. Reed, I swear, you start with a toothpick and end up with a lumber yard." Selleck's character provided the know-how in not knowing how city slickers do their dirty deeds and helped in his slow, quiet manner to not only use his love of encyclopaedias to avoid arrest, but to tie up loose ends in an alleged murder.
Claude "Movin' On/Sheriff Lobo" Akins also plays a mover and shaker in the Nashville music scene, I believe this picture was meant to have a sort of Lite commentary on the other Nashville, as in that film which Keith Carradine played in back in 1975 - but (A) considering it's supposed to be a comedy, this was hardly the time and place for that, and (B) there was not enough time to do such type of editorialising justice, so the amateur sleuthing won out, thank God!
http://tinyurl.com/3464k
This hokey country & mystery was really Jerry Reed's show, he had a Top 5 hit in the 70's "When You're Hot, You're Hot (When You're Not, You're Not)" that even became a popular catchphrase T-shirt, Tom Selleck either pre-Magnum or same time and hedging his bets played the studious and mostly quiet itinerant rancher.
The plot had some pinholes but not really obvious as Jerry Reed wove his spell of brash down-home-isms and Tom Selleck playing the puller of butts from frying pans & fires.
The pilot-debut pulled out a good set of stops to hit the ground running; invite Roy Acuff, Barbra Mandrell and Ray Stevens to do cameos as themselves.
There were chase-scenes and there were sex, lies & Nashville but Selleck's character summed up Jerry Reed the best in two quotes from the film, "You'll either be rich or in jail," along with "J. D. Reed, I swear, you start with a toothpick and end up with a lumber yard." Selleck's character provided the know-how in not knowing how city slickers do their dirty deeds and helped in his slow, quiet manner to not only use his love of encyclopaedias to avoid arrest, but to tie up loose ends in an alleged murder.
Claude "Movin' On/Sheriff Lobo" Akins also plays a mover and shaker in the Nashville music scene, I believe this picture was meant to have a sort of Lite commentary on the other Nashville, as in that film which Keith Carradine played in back in 1975 - but (A) considering it's supposed to be a comedy, this was hardly the time and place for that, and (B) there was not enough time to do such type of editorialising justice, so the amateur sleuthing won out, thank God!
http://tinyurl.com/3464k
Concrete Cowboys (Movie)
cherylallison124 August 2009
The movie was worth watching just to see Jerry Reed and Tom Selleck ham it up with such a great supporting cast of characters, many of whom are no longer with us. The plot was contrived, but who cares! Jerry Reed, as usual, stole the show! Now that he has passed on, Concrete Cowboys is a tribute to the fact Reed's appearance rescued the movie.
The plot includes the usual car bomb, shoot-out, cop-car chase, and bad guy fight scenes that keeps the action moving, but just to see so many great artists in their prime is worth watching the film. Also interesting is the set decor, costumes, vintage cars, and those tame nightclub dance moves.
Best of all: there was no filthy language, sleazy sex scenes, or female meat-market pandering! This is a good movie to watch with your kids and not have to censor the kind of disgusting garbage vomited out of Hollywood today. Although "Hollywood" has long been morally bankrupt, we can thank God we still have some old and timeless classics, and some B movies worth watching like this one.
The plot includes the usual car bomb, shoot-out, cop-car chase, and bad guy fight scenes that keeps the action moving, but just to see so many great artists in their prime is worth watching the film. Also interesting is the set decor, costumes, vintage cars, and those tame nightclub dance moves.
Best of all: there was no filthy language, sleazy sex scenes, or female meat-market pandering! This is a good movie to watch with your kids and not have to censor the kind of disgusting garbage vomited out of Hollywood today. Although "Hollywood" has long been morally bankrupt, we can thank God we still have some old and timeless classics, and some B movies worth watching like this one.
An amiably silly redneck comedy romp
Woodyanders29 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Tom Selleck and Jerry Reed are utterly engaging as rascally, penniless, down-on-their-luck cowboy drifters Will and J.D., who find themselves stuck in Nashville, Tennesse. A lovely young woman (the gorgeous Morgan Fairchild) mistakes the pair for private detectives and hires the affable duo to find her missing sister. Pretty soon both Will and J.D. are neck deep in all kinds of trouble. Briskly directed by Burt Kennedy, with a slight, inane cookie cutter script by Jimmy Sangster, crude cinematography by Victor Salzis and Alan Stensvold, a jaunty hillbilly bluegrass country score by Reed (who also sings the rousing theme song "Breakin' Loose") and the expected copious slapstick fist fights and wacky car chases, this totally inconsequential piece of made-for-TV piffle makes for a perfectly enjoyable diversion. The loose'n'wiggy chemistry between Selleck and Reed is a treat to watch. Solid supporting turns by Claude Akins as a famous country singer/songwriter, Gene Evans as a gruff police lieutenant, Lucille Benson as a stern, but friendly whorehouse madam, and Grace Zabriskie as a wax museum worker are likewise delightful. Special guest appearances by country stars Roy Acuff, Ray Stevens and Barbara Mandrell as themselves further add to the goofy fun. A likably silly timewaster.
Okey-dokey, light mystery yarn with deliberately opposite leads.
Poseidon-36 February 2009
Warning: Spoilers
A country-fried buddy movie, and potential pilot for a series (that later emerged with Reed, but with Geoffrey Scott in Selleck's role), this concerns two cross-country cowboys on their way to Hollywood who become embroiled in a missing person/murder investigation and find themselves on the edge of danger. When Reed loses the pair's money in a shady card game, he and pal Selleck take up residence in a buddy's luxury apartment in Nashville. However, once there, they are mistaken for private investigators by a (hilariously) brunette Fairchild and, in order to regain the funds they lost, opt to take on her case. They've barely begun to sort out the clues when their lives become threatened. In standard issue, TV show fashion, they make the rounds, interviewing various suspects and witnesses while trying to piece together the mystery. In a finale that isn't all that hard to guess (but with a subplot or two that help keep things from becoming too predictable), the gentlemen wrap things up and proceed on their way to H-town. Reed yuks it up and delivers a lot of sassy dialogue, clearly enjoying himself in a rare leading role. (in fact, video releases have eliminated his picture from the cover and sometimes his name, despite his top-billing!) Selleck is his typically easy-going and charming self. He would soon land the iconic role of "Magnum PI" and launch a more significant career for himself. Both men wear pants that are almost criminally tight and are at times distractingly so! Fairchild isn't put to any tremendous task in her dual role, but adds a bit of camp factor to the proceedings thanks to her dated styling and soap opera-esquire acting. Akins appears as a country music star who seems uneasy about the case while real-life singers Acuff, Mandrell and Stevens have cameos as themselves. Benson gets an amusing little part as a cathouse madam and familiar face Zabriskie has a role as co-proprietress of a country music wax museum. Easy-going and lacking a significant budget, it's harmless, undemanding entertainment for those who aren't expecting a great deal. Commercial breaks are punctuated by a series of illustrations and chapter names which add a whimsical feel to the movie.
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