The Good Old Boys (1995) (TV)

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writers (WGA):

Elmer Kelton (book)
Tommy Lee Jones (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

5 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Western

Plot:

An aging cowboy must choose between his desire to remain free and the responsibilities of maintaining a family. |

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Directorial Debut | Directed By Star | Based On Book

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Hewey Calloway
Terry Kinney	...	Walter Calloway
Frances McDormand	...	Eve Calloway
Sam Shepard	...	Tarnell
Sissy Spacek	...	Spring Renfro
Wilford Brimley	...	C.C. Tarpley
Walter Olkewicz	...	Fat Gervin
Matt Damon	...	Cotton Calloway
Blayne Weaver	...	Tommy Calloway
Bruce McGill	...	City Marshall
Larry Mahan	...	Blue Hannigan
Richard Jones	...	Alvin Lawdermilk
Karen Jones	...	Cora Lawdermilk
Park Overall	...	Florence
Laura Poe	...	Betsey

Runtime:

130 min | Argentina:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company:

Edgar J. Scherick Associates

Quotes:

Hewey Calloway: Biscuit, I'm tired of this cowology. I'm tired of these mountains. And if you won't take it the wrong way, I'd just as soon talk with somebody can talk back every once in a while - you ain't said nothin' in two years.

Well worth watching

Perhaps I liked this movie because it reminded me very much of my father and mother. My father was an itinerent cowboy and a championship rodeo rider in the early part of the 20th Century just like the role Tommy Lee Jones played as Hewey Callaway. And he had a side kick much like Sam Shepard's character Tarnell. My father met a lady like Sissy Spacek when he was 31 and married her. Tarnell also got married but he was killed in a rodeo two years later and my father gave up rodeo riding.

Life was very much like in the movie in those days. You found people that would go out of their way to help others and the bankers in the movie were typical of bankers in those days, mean as hell.

The acting in the movie was excellent. Everyone in the movie played roles that were very typical in those days and they did a good job of it. The only gripe I have with the movie is that the ending was unreal. I won't give it away but I have known many cowboys but I never knew one that didn't want to settle down.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie was when the outhouse was knocked down with the grandmother in it. That was a common prank in those days, to knock over an outhouse. The grandmother was a pistol. I knew old women just like her.

The author either had some experience or he really did a great job of research because the story (except for the ending) accurately depicted conditions in those days.