Concrete Cowboys (1979)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Two drifters from Montana named "J.D. Reed" (Jerry Reed) and "Will Eubanks" (Tom Selleck) arrive in Nashville needing a place to stay. As luck would have it, a person they met a couple of weeks prior by the name of "Lonnie Grimes" (Randy Powell) offers them the comfort of his home while he is away in Memphis. Not realizing that Lonnie is a private detective they are surprised when a young lady named "Kate Harper" (Morgan Fairchild) comes to the house and offers them a thousand dollars to find her missing sister, "Carla" (also played by Morgan Fairchild). One thing leads to another and soon both J.D. and Will are escaping one attempt on their lives after another while they pursue leads all over Nashville. Now, obviously being a "made-for-television" movie it require that the script had to be "tamed down" to accommodate a general audience. I understand that. Even so, there was no excuse to waste the talents of two decent performers like Tom Selleck and Morgan Fairchild with such a ridiculous plot, extremely corny dialogue and repeated unsuccessful attempts at humor. Again, what a waste of talent.

Always enjoy Tom Selleck, (Will Cubanks) films and in this picture he plays a rather low key person who loves studying a dictionary and was a former ex-cowboy who has a good friend and sidekick, J D Reed, (Jerry Reed). These two guys decide to travel to Hollywood and they wind up in a freight car which takes them to Nashville, Tenn. where they meet up with many Country Western Music Stars, like Claude Akins, Barbara Mandrell and Roy Acuff which are all cameos. However, Barbara Mandrell had a few lines more than the rest of her other actors. There is plenty of humor and slapstick and Morgan Fairchild, (Kate) gives a great supporting role and also a double role to perfection. If you like to see a very young Tom Selleck, you will enjoy a completely different acting by Tom. Enjoy.

Tom Selleck and Jerry Reed are utterly engaging as rascally, penniless, down-on-their-luck cowboy drifters Will and J.D., who find themselves stuck in Nashville, Tennesse. A lovely young woman (the gorgeous Morgan Fairchild) mistakes the pair for private detectives and hires the affable duo to find her missing sister. Pretty soon both Will and J.D. are neck deep in all kinds of trouble. Briskly directed by Burt Kennedy, with a slight, inane cookie cutter script by Jimmy Sangster, crude cinematography by Victor Salzis and Alan Stensvold, a jaunty hillbilly bluegrass country score by Reed (who also sings the rousing theme song "Breakin' Loose") and the expected copious slapstick fist fights and wacky car chases, this totally inconsequential piece of made-for-TV piffle makes for a perfectly enjoyable diversion. The loose'n'wiggy chemistry between Selleck and Reed is a treat to watch. Solid supporting turns by Claude Akins as a famous country singer/songwriter, Gene Evans as a gruff police lieutenant, Lucille Benson as a stern, but friendly whorehouse madam, and Grace Zabriskie as a wax museum worker are likewise delightful. Special guest appearances by country stars Roy Acuff, Ray Stevens and Barbara Mandrell as themselves further add to the goofy fun. A likably silly timewaster.

If you remember the Smokey and the Bandit Series, this could be best summarized as a what if Smokey had been the Snow Man's sidekick instead of the other way around. I remember as being a hilarious show. It ain't Shakespeare. It ain't even Monty Python. But it is funny in a unique late 70's sit com on film kind of way.