Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Awesome Movie

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

1975 to 2013 is a lot of years. I had the sound track on vinyl and had to replace it with an iTunes download. And now I'll probably purchase a digital version of the movie. First time I saw Jimmy Buffet, Sam Waterson, Slim Pickens, Harry Dean Stanton and Jeff Bridges. I can't argue with the "serious" comments posted here. But I do know this, I have the fondest memories of watching this film, constantly talk about it, want to see it again, and again, need to here the music regularly. Few movies stick with me like this, most, if not all of Robert Altman's movies, but this is different and fun and makes me sit up and take notice. Be forewarned, I'm not talking about "GREAT" cinema, just a wonderful and entertaining movie. Books move me, technological writing captures my analytic mind, but this movie was fun and I want more.

To those of you who put this on your 'desert island' menu, congratulations. If you were sentient in the period contemporary to the making of Rancho DeLuxe, you get a clear picture of the real comedic and artistic value of the film. If you missed all that and the movie is still on your list, well, kind of like Slim Pickens describes missing the circus of the century, you're winging it pretty well.The mystery and controversy that kept Perry/McGuane's little masterpiece out of distribution is a travesty on par with Moby Grape's having been dealt the lousy hand as a rock supergroup. It was about 15 years after release before the film circulated on VHS and its only circulation occasionally on late night TV was in a version so mutilated by censors as to render it incomprehensible.Had the film been in wide release and properly circulated, it likely would have accrued the same sort of cult following dealt to Rocky Horror and King of Hearts. But the world went down a different path and Urban Cowboy became the substantial cinematic view of how hipsters saw 'western' and 'rural' America. Too bad. But they can't know what they don't know.If you found yourself standing in Bridges' boots in 'Last Picture Show', you likely found great reason to enjoy Rancho DeLuxe as a comedic romp on lots of levels. And his part is only a fraction of what makes this one worthwhile. I hope I'll say the same about his 'True Grit' (an inflated and mediocre dime novel in print and piddling exploitation of John Wayne's career as film), but I'm not holding my breath.

Rancho Deluxe is a wryly skewed take on the Western as only Tom McGuane could have made it; the protagonists are cattle rustlers, the ranchers are wealthy, new money dilettantes with sexually frustrated wives, and the marshal from out of town is an old railroad detective who knows a good gig when he has one, and spins it out as long as he can, which means he does a masterful job of NOT catching the rustlers for as long as he can.That's the plot, and Tom McGuane presents it in a masterfully understated script which captures the laconic silences of the plains as well as the craziness of the honkytonks and the loopiness of doped-up rustlers and their girlfriends. Law and Order's Sam Waterston steals the movie as the chronically stoned/drunk Native American rustler (one wonders if this cast was in small part an homage to the old-timey Westerns in which Jewish actors were cast as Injuns), even though Jeff Bridges is in the dramatic foreground most of the movie. Waterston puts in an effortlessly authentic performance as someone who is content to watch life rush on by as he rolls in the turf with his lady, and pot the odd steer with that great "cattleman's carbine" cap and ball black powder rifle he and Bridges' character use to ply their trade.This movie has a wonderful Jimmy Buffett score - "Livingston Saturday Night" sets the frenetic honkytonk scene admirably, while the other scenes have more soulful, reflective Buffett songs in the background. I'll be honest, I watched the movie BECAUSE McGuane's brother-in-law Buffett wrote and performed the score, but I found myself drawn into the plot and interested in the fate of the characters, in a sort of laid-back way. By modern film standards the pace of this film definitely lags, but it was shot in the 1970s, back when this was not the major sin against commercial film-making that it is now."Laid-back" is the right term to sum this movie up - it was very much a creature of its mid-Seventies origins. It's a mood movie, good for those evenings when you're not up for car chases, tense emotional scenes, or side-splitting laughter. And the soundtrack rocks.

Thomas McGuane, 25 years ahead of the commercial marketplace, invented the [post]modern dialogue SNAP now central to the filmfop vogue. Anyone who enjoyed Jeff Bridges as Dude Lebowski MUST see this movie. Also recommended for those interested in the final disposition of the American West, those who thought Sam Waterston might be an actor, those who can't believe Slim Pickens could improve on his "Dr. Strangelove" role, etc.