The Good Old Boys (1995)

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

Director:

Tommy Lee Jones

Writers:

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

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Terry Kinney, Frances McDormand

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Andrew Jones	...	Alvin Lawdermilk (as Richard Jones)
Karen Jones	...	Cora Lawdermilk
Park Overall	...	Florence
Laura Poe	...	Betsey

Storyline

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

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Plot Keywords:

cowboy | range | cattle | land | country | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dobri stari momci

Filming Locations:

Alamo Village - Highway 674, Brackettville, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edgar J. Scherick Associates, Firebrand Productions, The Javelina Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the turn of the twentieth century the mandolin had become very popular - far more popular than the guitar - and there were entire orchestras composed of nothing but mandolins of various sizes. The mandolin in this film is a 1904 model Gibson F2. It can be distinguished by the points on either side of the waist and the oval sound hole. This would have been a highly unusual model in that situation in that it was an extremely expensive instrument, at about a third the price of a piano. A comparable instrument manufactured today sells for approximately $15,000.

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Goofs

Almost all of the costumes are obviously brand-new, with no attempt to age them. This is particularly noticeable in the first scene, with the close-up shot of the chaps, which had supposedly had at least two years' use.

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Quotes

C.C. Tarpley: All you got is a brown horse past his prime, an old saddle, and *maybe* twenty dollars. Now, that ain't much to show for all them years, is it?
Hewey Calloway: I went north one time into Canada and seen the glaciers. You ever see a glacier, C.C.?

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Roommates/Muriel's Wedding/Hideaway/The Good Old Boys/Citizen X (1995)

User Reviews

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.