Although not a particular fan of either Patrick Swayze (and his "from -A-to-B" acting range), or this film's genre, I saw it first run while staying near a small city with one theater and it was playing.
Many of the cretin-like "good ol' boys" among both the good guys and the miscreants were over-the-top to some extent, but not entirely.
However, in watching some of it again by happenstance today, one thing struck me again, which alone may make this flick worth viewing.
Ben Gazzara is an accomplished actor, and one who manages to accomplish something most actors - prominent or "B/C-List" or below can't: he is usually capable of giving a credible performance, while at the same time "chewing the scenery" like a horde of beavers - no mean feat. HOWEVER, I would rank his character and performance in this singular presentation as the MOST OUTRAGEOUS I've ever seen - and perhaps in the entire recorded history of entertainment on stage, screen, performance art, or even back to performances in ancient Roman and Greek presentations.
Even Bugsy Siegel when having a manic episode, Al Capone at his angriest, or Don Corleone's Luca Braci, would be pussycats compared with the obsessive, sociopathetic, vicious town-bully portrayed by him in this offering. Even Corbin Bernsen's psychotic dentist in those made-for-TV flicks, with all the drilling, extracting and probing without benefit of Novocaine - compared with Gazarra here, make the doc seem simply like man with a slightly different approach to oral hygiene.
This movie would rate about 2* for plot/story - but must be at least doubled for Ben's fascinatingly delightful and outrageous presence.
Many of the cretin-like "good ol' boys" among both the good guys and the miscreants were over-the-top to some extent, but not entirely.
However, in watching some of it again by happenstance today, one thing struck me again, which alone may make this flick worth viewing.
Ben Gazzara is an accomplished actor, and one who manages to accomplish something most actors - prominent or "B/C-List" or below can't: he is usually capable of giving a credible performance, while at the same time "chewing the scenery" like a horde of beavers - no mean feat. HOWEVER, I would rank his character and performance in this singular presentation as the MOST OUTRAGEOUS I've ever seen - and perhaps in the entire recorded history of entertainment on stage, screen, performance art, or even back to performances in ancient Roman and Greek presentations.
Even Bugsy Siegel when having a manic episode, Al Capone at his angriest, or Don Corleone's Luca Braci, would be pussycats compared with the obsessive, sociopathetic, vicious town-bully portrayed by him in this offering. Even Corbin Bernsen's psychotic dentist in those made-for-TV flicks, with all the drilling, extracting and probing without benefit of Novocaine - compared with Gazarra here, make the doc seem simply like man with a slightly different approach to oral hygiene.
This movie would rate about 2* for plot/story - but must be at least doubled for Ben's fascinatingly delightful and outrageous presence.