My late father and I always referred to this as the movie we "accidentally" watched on HBO late one night. We were hooked when the posse rode right across the Rio Grande into Mexico and "Ol' Speed" fainted! For the rest of his life he always greeted me in the morning with "Good mornin' Spot!" In much the same vein as another of his favorites (Evil Roy Slade), it is difficult to find two lines together from this movie that can be taken seriously ("Please wipe your feet." . . "I always do!")("I'll be outside running a reference test." . . "Why don't you run one on your skull while you're at it?"). I have watched my home-recorded VHS upwards of 25-30 times and now that the DVD has been released, I look forward to adding it to my collection once again because . . . . "I can do this all day long! I'm talking about . . All Day Long!" Give it a spin and give it a chance.
Goin' South
1978
Action / Comedy / Romance / Western
Goin' South
1978
Action / Comedy / Romance / Western
Plot summary
Henry Moon is captured for a capital offense by a posse when his horse quits while trying to escape to Mexico. He finds that there is a post-Civil War law in the small town that any single or widowed woman can save him from the gallows by marrying him.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 10, 2024 at 04:09 PM
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What's the fascination with the city of Motherly Love?
Generally amusing Western with Nicholson & Steenburgen, but sometimes meh
Released in 1978 and directed by Jack Nicholson, "Goin' South" is a Western comedy/romance starring Nicholson as a two-bit outlaw saved from hanging to marry a prim virgin (Mary Steenburgen) who uses him to (try to) strike gold on the mine located on her remote ranch, inherited from her dad. But the ex-outlaw's former gang might not let him strike it rich, whether with gold or love. The wannabe outlaws are played by Veronica Cartwright, Tracey Walter, Danny DeVito and Jeff Morris.
The tone is akin to 1976's "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox," but the movie's not as good. It's generally amusing, but sometimes a little boring; the script needed more work to further draw out its potential. Yet it's still worth catching if you like the cast. There are some chuckles. The best parts are the sequences in the town involving two deputies (Christopher Lloyd & John Belushi), the sheriff (Richard Bradford) and others.
This was one of only three films directed by Jack (if you don't count "The Terror," where he got his initial experience). It also marked the film debut of Steenburgen and was one of Belushi's first theatrical films (he did this and "Animal House" around the same time).
The film runs 108 minutes and was shot in Durango, Mexico.
GRADE: Borderline B-/C+
going gone
It's post-war Texas. Petty criminal Henry Lloyd Moon (Jack Nicholson) is set to hang. Due to the lack of men, there is a local law allowing a woman to marry and take responsibility for such a criminal. Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen) volunteers to marry him. She needs help to work on a secret gold mine and plans to move away to Philadelphia before being evicted by the approaching railroad.
This law seems problematic. There are unexplored unintended consequences. Nicholson has such a prankster personality that he doesn't accentuates his criminal's threatening personality. Steenburgen doesn't help to heighten the romance. That is this movie's major issue. At no point do I buy this couple loving or even liking each other. Jack Nicholson is trying his hand in directing and he doesn't show much great skills. It's not visually arresting and he seems to just let the actors go. The movie never convinces me of the couple's love and I could never buy any cooperation in the gold. It's almost a relief that he takes a turn but I never believed it. This movie has some central flaws and can't work its way out of them.