Films I Love, Part XXVIII: Rancho Deluxe
As usual I was more than a bit displeased with several of this year’s Golden Globe winners.
But I shan’t commence a rant. I’ve come to praise Jeff Bridges.
“Crazy Heart” doesn’t open here in Louisville for another ten days. But I can’t wait. Bridges is one of my favorite actors, and it really has very little to do with “The Big Lebowski.” I’m really happy the guy is finally getting his due. Let’s hope the Oscar folks give him their statuette too.
Far and away my favorite Bridges film, “Rancho Deluxe,” is also one of my top 5 of all time. Frankly I was stunned when I checked my list and realized I’d praised 27 other flicks before I finally got around to this one. Whatever have I been thinking?
Let me count the ways I looooooooooooove this 1975 film.
1) Bridges and Sam Waterston as a couple of scoundrel cattle rustlers in modern day Montana.
2) Iconic Slim Pickens as Henry Beige, the detective hired to find out who the culprits are.
3) Charlene Dallas as Pickens’ comely niece.
4) Clifton James as the rancher whose cattle are being stolen. Elizabeth Ashley as his horny wife. And Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Bright as Curt and Burt, the dim-witted cow hands.
5) A too cool for school screenplay by hipster novelist Tom McGuane, who was married to Ashley at the time.
6) The Oh So 70s feel of the flick. Including a bar scene with Bridges and Stanton playing Pong, while Jimmy Buffet’s on the bandstand with a group that includes Warren Oates.
“Rancho Deluxe” may in fact rival “Diva” as the hippest flick of all time.
One more scene to whet your appetite before I close shop here.
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