Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Cindy Williams | ... | Arlene Stewart | |
Harry Dean Stanton | ... | Brother Bud Sanders | |
Fred Ward | ... | Sheldon Bart | |
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Beverly Hope Atkinson | ... | Naomi |
Harry Carey Jr. | ... | George Martin | |
Diane Adair | ... | Delores (as Diane Diefendorf) | |
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Robert Gray | ... | Emile |
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Ted Harris | ... | Gregory |
Darrell Larson | ... | Toby | |
Peggy McCay | ... | Celia Martin | |
Hank Worden | ... | Colonel | |
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Alan Beckwith | ... | Brother Roy |
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Andrew Winner | ... | Male Newscaster |
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Pamela Lamont | ... | Female Newscaster |
Joe Unger | ... | Gas Station Attendant |
Sheldon Bart is a drifter, and a small-time con man. He meets his old friend, Brother Bud, a big-time con man into faith healing and fencing stolen cars, at his revival tent outside a small town. While he's helping Brother Bud, he falls in love with Arlene, a local supermarket clerk who believes in UFOs and is deeply religious and deeply lonely. When Arlene has a vision of a coming UFO, everyone deals with it in their own way. Written by Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>
Cindy Williams gives a superb, luminous, heart-warming performance as daffy, but endearing small mid-western town grocery check-out girl Arlene, whose constant, deep-seated belief that she'll soon be visited by alien beings from another planet brings together a motley collection of New Age religious kooks, shiftless no-hoper losers, snoopy media newshounds, and other such colorful societal oddballs which include longtime Western movie bit player Hank Worden as a senile World War II vet and fellow ubiquitous Western character thesp Harry Carey Jr. in one of his standard affable good ol' boy roles. Arlene's nutty notions also attract the attention of aimless grifter drifter Sheldon (a grungily engaging Fred Ward, who's rarely been better) and amoral, cynical, opportunistic phony roadside preacher Brother Bud (the inestimable Harry Dean Stanton doing a splendidly sour reprise of his avaricious fake blind priest part from "Wise Blood").
Capably directed and smartly written by John Binder (who co-wrote the equally off-beat "Endangered Species"), with smooth, sparkling cinematography by David Myers, a lovely, lulling honkytonk score by Richard Baskin, and a top-rate country and western soundtrack (several choice Waylon Jennings and John Prine tunes are prominently featured herein, while the always great Roger Miller exuberantly belts out the wonderfully wacky theme song), this beautifully quirky and amiable sleeper offers a delightful, astute, pleasingly eccentric seriocomic look at how one person can indeed have a substantial positive impact on other people, the profound need to live a happy life, and how the ability to believe in something -- hell, man, just anything -- gives life purpose and meaning, thus making it easier for one to persevere and prevail through that dull, unceasing, sometimes disheartening daily grind we all must contend with. Intelligent, affectionate, often funny, and ultimately quite moving, this simply lovely favorite rates a sunny, uplifting, totally terrific little beaut.