Dudes (1987)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Penelope Spheeris

Writer:

Randall Jahnson (writer)

Release Date:

August 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

New York City is tough, but the country is really murder.

Plot:

Two punks from the big city, traveling across the country in a Volkswagen bug, embrace the western ethos...

Plot Keywords:

Punk | Revenge | Road Trip | Elvis Impersonator | Native American

Cast

Jon Cryer	...	Grant
Daniel Roebuck	...	Biscuit
Flea	...	Milo
Lee Ving	...	Missoula
Billy Ray Sharkey	...	Blix
Glenn Withrow	...	Wes
Michael Melvin	...	Logan
Marc Rude	...	Sonny
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Jessie
Cal Bartlett	...	Witherspoon (as Calvin Bartlett)
Pete Willcox	...	Daredelvis
Vance Colvig Jr.	...	Hezekiah
Ancel Cook	...	Rhatigan
Wycliffe Young	...	Watts
Red Wing	...	Laughing Bear

Runtime:

UK:86 min | USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cottonwood, Arizona, USA

Company:

Vista Organization

Quotes:

[first lines]
Milo: I'm so sick of doing this; I'm sick of waiting for the world to end.
Biscut: Me, too. Why don't we do something else for a change?
Grant: Yeah? Like what?
Biscut: Well, if we put our heads together, maybe we could figure something out.
Grant: My head just got stepped on. I can't think of nothing.
Milo: California! Let's move to California!
Biscut: I got a job. I got responsibilities.
Milo: Biscut, you're washing dishes in a shithole, brother. Personally, I think you could risk the career change.

Movie Connections:

References The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Soundtrack:

Blue Suede Shoes

Interesting to say the least

I bought this movie for $1.99 at my local video store and while I was expecting it to be better considering that it was directed by Penelope Spheeris, it didn't turn out to be too bad. It certainly is an interesting picture. DUDES starts off comedic and light with three punk rock friends (Jon Cryer, Daniel Roebuck, and Flea, all good in their roles) heading out to L.A. to find a better life. 20 minutes into the movie, the film becomes more dramatic when they are attacked by a group of rednecks led by the nasty Missoula (Lee Ving). Missoula kills Flea by shooting him in the head and the rest of the movie has Jon Cryer and Daniel Roebuck looking for revenge. It's hard to say exactly what genre DUDES fits under. It's a mix of genres. It's part comedy, part drama, part western, and part action adventure. The mixing of genres is not entirely successful, though it does make DUDES a somewhat fascinating motion picture. It's unlike any other film from the 80s, that's for sure. With some more character development and better dialogue, DUDES could have been pretty good. The ingredients to a good picture are here, but the screenplay is not as strong as it should have been. There's still some stuff to like about DUDES. There are some decent laughs, the music is very 80s yet enjoyable, the action scenes are handled quite well, and the revenge plot, though clichéd, is fairly intriguing. I'd be interested in a DVD release with a making-of documentary since I'm sure it would be just as interesting as the film is. However, that will never happen since it seems nobody has ever heard of this movie. Slightly recommended. 5/10