Rancho Deluxe

Did they really expect to corral horses in the Crazies by smoking pot and screwing? Mostly about yahoos coming from other places. Not about hard working locals.

source: Rancho Deluxe

i have sentimental reasons for loving this movie. the outdoor sex scenes make this a great date movie (at least for me). but the look on clifton james face at the end, as he shakes slim pickens hand is just priceless. i was jeff bridges age and a bit of an outlaw myself, so i really related to the entire attitude that was the theme of this movie. great acting all around, and no hard feelings at the end. all smiles. what i enjoy the most about this type of film is that the viewer has no idea in which direction the movie is going. the scenery is just beautiful, jimmy buffet is in his prime, and the combination of veteran character actors, plus the up and comers, make this a great viewing experience.

Hilarious dry, sophisticated humor with insight into the ranching life of the Big Sky Country of the US. Really hits the mark for the cowboy-hippie life of Bozeman and Livingston, Montana. Great performances from Slim Pickens, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Ashley, Joe Spinell and shows that Sam Waterston actually had a lot of talent until he fell into the "Law and Order" grind. This is probably the best film written by Thomas McGuane and one of Frank Perry's best efforts as a director. Would probably make a great double bill with "The Adventures of Buckeroo Banzai." Anyone interested in the last Golden Age of American Film (late 60's - 70's) should see this film.

When I posted my review of the Gene Autry flick "Down Mexico Way" some seven years ago as I write this, I wondered whether there might be at least one more Western out there that had a polka played in it. With a dab of poetic license, I'd say you could call "Rancho Deluxe" a Western, after all it's got cowboys, horses and cattle rustling in it. So when free spirit Betty Fargo (Patti D'Arbanville) called over to the band to 'Play a Polka', I'd have to say their response qualifies this flick as the third time I've caught one in the genre. If you're wondering what the other one was, it was Charles Starrett's programmer from 1951 called "Snake River Desperadoes". Well that polka might not have sounded much like a polka, and this might not look much like your traditional Western, but it sure does have that cattle rustling thing down pat. Problem is, most of the rustling by bad boys Jack McKee (Jeff Bridges) and Cecil Colson (Sam Waterston) is done one at a time, and they generally just shoot and butcher the poor animal right where he drops. I've never tried it, but it seems to me that taking a chainsaw to a dead animal would be a lot more gruesome than the picture allowed; Jack didn't get a drop of blood on him! This is a wryly amusing tale with quick and abrupt scene changes but it's not hard to follow. Writer Thomas McGuane must have let his fertile imagination head into Mexican overdrive to come up with the story. The Baseheart of Bozeman Canyon making shambles of the hotel room is almost worth the price of admission alone, but prepare yourself to really pay attention to everything going on along with all the sharp dialog because you'll want to reflect on things when it's all over. With a title tune from Jimmy Buffet and a sneak peak harmonica cameo by Warren Oates, this is definitely not your father's Western. The only connection there would be Slim Pickens' role in the story, and having seen a bunch of his pictures from the Fifties, I was a little surprised to see him in this one as late as 1975. But he did have quite a few more screen appearances after this one so I'll have to check out some of those as well if I can find them. After catching Sam Waterston in all those 'Law and Order' episodes, it's a bit strange seeing him here as an alcoholic Indian, or any kind of Indian for that matter. But it wouldn't be the last time he appeared in a Western. He showed up four years later as a Kiowa warrior named White Bull, giving Martin Sheen fits in another off beat story, but that time he went the entire picture without saying a word.

"Rancho Deluxe" assembles a group of characters who think they want things to go back to the way they used to be, but they mostly have simplistic views about the past. The wealthy ranch owners made their pile with a string of beauty parlors. The two ranch hands--an appliance repairman and a TV pitchman--quit those jobs to live in a bunkhouse and ride fenced-in range. The two cattle rustlers take one beef at a time, and haul it away in a pickup -- but they shoot it with an antique buffalo rifle. They all think something was lost in the past which they would like to recover. A braver time, a lost simplicity, perhaps. By contrast, two of the oldest characters, the elderly Indian and the retired horse thief- turned range detective, observed more of the past and know it better, and they approve of progress. Joseph Spinnell lectures his son, "The homesteads, hospitals, schools and welfare of the state of Montana have been sold down the river to buy pickup trucks!" The detective sets a honey-trap to ferret out just who expects to come into some money soon, a very modern ploy. Then, seemingly for fun, he dons chaps and six-guns and mounts a white horse to pull over the cattle-laden tractor-trailer before it can get to a roadway. He then dismounts and asks for some more peach pie. He lectures the ranch owner, "All big money crimes are inside jobs. Remember that and you may hang on to this ranch of yours." In the end, even the captured rustlers are somewhat content. Turns out the Montana penal system has a prison ranch, if you can earn "trusty" status. With all the fun going on in this story, there is also that core of serious thought about nostalgia not being what it used to be.

You've gotta love these whimsical '70's flicks. And, it was interesting seeing a younger Sam Waterston after so many years of seeing him play a character with the gravitas of Jack McCoy. Kudos to Charlene Dallas, even though, according to IMDb, she didn't have much of a career. An enjoyable film to watch. Grade: B+

My favorite "modern" western with a great cast, solid story line and plenty of laughs. Music in the background by Jimmy Buffet is a delight. Not a serious, complicated story but one that is interesting enough to make you stick around and enjoy the performances of Bridges, Waterston, Ashley, Dallas and Pickins. Slim's line after he cuts out the slug that downed a steer out on the cold Montana range, (he identifies the bullet as coming from a 50 caliber Sharps rifle) "This is startin' to git downright romantic!" is a hoot. Sexy Charlene Dallas playing her role as the innocent niece made me want to see more of her. To top it all are the great wide open spaces of Montana as backdrop to the film. The ideal movie to view on a weekend afternoon with lots of popcorn and a cold glass, or hot cup of your favorite beverage.

A truly funny, gentle, intelligent movie. A rare cinematic experience, in that the surprise ending doesn't leave one feeling manipulated. Slim Pickens' performance was on a par with his work in Dr. Strangelove. A great "western" for those who,like myself, don't particularly like "westerns".

The engagingly kicked-back seriocomic slice-of-life picture was one of the more beguiling sub-genres which flourished in the 70's. This disarmingly quirky, low-key, easygoing cult favorite is one of the best of the bunch. Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterson are both very much in their wry element as two indolent, disaffected, shiftless smartaleck country youths -- Jeff's a quick-tempered white boy; Sam's his more level-headed Native American buddy -- who make their living by blasting cows and selling the meat to the highest bidder. Gruff, truculent rancher Clifton James, mighty ticked off about his livestock being decimated, hires an aged, irascible, but extremely shrewd stock detective (a lively, marvelous performance by the always wonderful Slim Pickens) to put a stop to the increasingly irksome and costly cattle rustling. Tom McGuane's sharply written script acts as an acidic, witty and insightful meditation on the sad, unfortunate, painfully protracted passing of the glorious Old West and the gaudy, corrupt, superficial money-grubbing New West that's being erected in its place. Frank Perry's able direction, aided by William Fraker's sparkling cinematography and a catchy, flavorsome country and western score by Jimmy Buffett which kicks out the clop-hoppin' jams something nice (Buffett himself can be glimpsed performing "Livingston Saturday Night" on stage at a honkytonk bar with none other than an uncredited Warren Oates playing harmonica), does McGuane's superb script full justice, thereby producing a leisurely paced and pleasingly off-center charmer which effortlessly draws viewers into its uniquely oddball laid-back universe without ever becoming too forced or cloying about it. And the top-rate supporting cast couldn't be better: Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Bright as a pair of useless nitwit ranch hands, Elizabeth Ashley as James' bored, neglected wife, the delectable Patti D'Arbanville as Bridges' ditsy girlfriend, Charlene Dallas as Pickens' seemingly sweet and innocent grand niece, and Joe Spinell as Waterson's concerned, mellow, philosophical Native American father. Ashley, Stanton, Spinell and Oates also appear in McGuane's sole directorial effort, the similarly splendid and endearingly idiosyncratic treat "92 in the Shade."