Texasville (1990)

Summer, 1984: 30 years after Duane captained the high school football team and Jacy was homecoming queen, this Texas town near Wichita Falls prepares for its centennial. Oil prices are down... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Bogdanovich

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (novel), Peter Bogdanovich (screenplay)

Stars:

Harvey Christiansen, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harvey Christiansen	...	Old Man Balt
Pearl Jones	...	Minerva
Loyd Catlett	...	Lee Roy
Jimmy Howell	...	Jack Jackson
Romi Snyder	...	Julie
Kay Pering	...	Lavelle Bates
Allison Marich	...	Billie Anne
Katherine Bongfeldt	...	Nellie
Earl Poole Ball	...	Junior Nolan
Su Hyatt	...	Suzie Nolan
Angie Bolling	...	Marylou Marlow
William McNamara	...	Dickie Jackson
Eileen Brennan	...	Genevieve Morgan
Randy Quaid	...	Lester Marlow
Cloris Leachman	...	Ruth Popper

Storyline

Summer, 1984: 30 years after Duane captained the high school football team and Jacy was homecoming queen, this Texas town near Wichita Falls prepares for its centennial. Oil prices are down, banks are failing, and Duane's $12 million in debt. His wife Karla drinks too much, his children are always in trouble, and he tom-cats around with the wives of friends. Jacy's back in town, after a mildly successful acting career, life in Italy, and the death of her son. Folks assume Duane and Jacy will resume their high school romance. And Sonny is "tired in his mind," causing worries for his safety. Can these friends find equilibrium in middle age?

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Plot Keywords:

debt | texas | old flame | reminiscence | americana | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Texasville - unohduksen maa

Filming Locations:

Archer City, Texas, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$2,268,181 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine-Source, Nelson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ellen Burstyn didn't want to reprise her role in this movie.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the centennial parade, a half-built Ferris wheel with no cars attached can be seen in background; several minutes later, it's fully operational.

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Quotes

Lester Marlow: Marylou likes excitement. She says I'm not exciting any more.
Duane: Well, it's hard to stay exciting for a whole lifetime.

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Connections

Referenced in By Bogdanovich (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Queen Of Hearts"
Written by Hank DeVito
Performed by Juice Newton

User Reviews

The sequel of a classic

The year was 1990 and nothing less than nineteen years passed after the release of such classic as `The Last Picture Show', one of the greatest and most beautiful films ever.

During that time, writer Larry McMurtry published the sequel: `Texasville' and Bogdanovich eventually brought back the same team, in order to film it.

Throughout that time, almost every member of the unknown gallery of performers that starred in `The Last Picture Show' become stars and famous for their screen appearances.

Jeff Bridges (Duane Jackson) was the protagonist of some important Hollywood movies, like `Starman', `Thunderbolt and Lightfoot', `Cutter's Way' and `Against All Odds'. He became on of the most recognized actors of its generation. Cybill Sheperd (Jacy Farrow), not being such a famous name, was part of such projects like `Daisy Miller', `Taxi Driver' and `Chances Are'.

The lead performer of `The Last Picture Show', Timothy Bottoms (Sonny Crawford) was unable to achieve a good career as an actor. After starring in the wonderful `Johnny Got His Gun' and the great `The Paper Chase', his career started to collapse and he became one of the most wasted actors of all time. He is not famous, but recently starred as George W. Bush in the short living `That's My Bush' show. However his small part in `Texasville' as a mentally-disturbed Sonny, was ironically the best thing in the whole film, proving that talent is something that Bottoms still have.

However, the final result was not the same, and the nostalgia of `The Last Picture Show' dissolved in the smooth comedy-drama that characterized the 1990 sequel. Nevertheless this is far from being a bad movie: Bogdanovich's direction and the acting from a delightful cast, especially Bottoms with nothing more than 15 minutes in front of the cameras, do compensate for the lack of a story.

This movie will be of few interest to anyone who haven't seen `The Last Picture Show', but those who have can certainly give this one a chance: ***½/*****

P.S. I would love to see the third part of the trilogy (Duane's Depressed) being taken to the screen by Bogdanovich, with of course the same cast under his direction.