Goin' South (1978)

This movie has a great cast, many of whom are inter-related in various ways. First, there is Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd, all of whom were in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest together three years earlier in 1975. Needless to say, Nicholson must have had some influence in casting DeVito and Lloyd, as he directed this picture. DeVito and Lloyd were still relatively unknown until they were cast the following year in TAXI. Next, we have Veronica Cartwright, who would be cast in ALIEN the very next year in 1979. Then we have the lovely Luana Anders, who looked just as fabulous as she did 17 years earlier in her signature role as Don'a Medina in The Pit and the Pendulum, in 1961. There is John Belushi in his first film role, which ironically was in the same year that he would appear in Animal House. Finally, Mary Steenburgen appears here in her first film, as well. She would later go on to make some fabulously successful appearances in films like Parenthood and Back to the Future Part 3. As for the movie, it was an under-rated and relatively unknown independent film made by Nicholson on a lark. It remains one of those magnificent sleepers that was just great fun to watch. It's a happy movie with lots of laughs and lessons in loyalty and kindness. It remains one of my favorite comedies, westerns, and casts nearly 40 years later.

Despite a scruffy Jack Nicholson looking completely mad on the poster, this movie offers to few laughs to be considered to be a good comedy western. But in the other hand I'm not sure what to think of it, or how to label it. It got kind of a subtle and odd humor, very low key and not producing too many laughs but enough to keep interest.Nicholson plays Henry Moon. A criminal convicted to hang, but at the last moment he is saved by a young woman, Julia, due to a local ordnance that any land owning woman can claim the criminal as a husband (since the town lost too many men in the war). Moon of course accepts, but might have reconsidered after he met Julia. She on the other hand just wants him to dig for gold on her farm. In Texas. And not making things easier is Moon's old gang that hangs about… It is rather slow, but some gems show up. Just the cast is one of them. Besides Nicholson you can see Mary Steenburgen in her first role, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi, Jeff Morris, Ed Begley Jr and Danny DeVito. Just to see DeVito in a gunfight, jumping to fire over a shed is worth to watch the entire movie.So while I didn't think too much of it, it was entertaining enough not to be a waste of time.5/10

This movie basically uses spousal rape as one of its main comedic devices. Now I turned it off at the point when he literally ties her to the bed and rapes her, but I cannot really imagine how that was eventually turned around into something endearing and funny. This movie not only squandered a wonderful cast and was consistently unfunny, it actually managed to be rather brutally disturbing and misogynistic. How so many people seem to find it a sweet family flick is beyond me. "I sure enjoyed canning those apricots last night" is not a funny joke when you know it refers to forcing an unwilling virgin to have sex with you in the hopes she will eventually learn to like it. Watching a peeping tom jerk off is not family fun. I honestly feel worse off for having watched half of this creepy "comedy" and am totally baffled by these positive reviews.

I knew that going in and watching "Goin' South" that it wouldn't be anything great or special and it certainly is not one of Nicholson's better works even though he directed. Clearly the western genre is not Jack's trademark type of film and his character is out of place at least appearance wise. It just looked so uncommon seeing Nicholson looking rugged with a hairy beard and listening to him talk in a slang country western drawl sounded so out of place. Anyway this little western try which was directed by Nicholson himself has himself as outlaw Henry Moon set in the 1860's. Moon is about to be hanged only to be saved by a lovely young gal who promises to marry him and take charge. Her name is Julia Tate(Mary Steenburgen)who's headstrong and smart yet her character is very sheltered and plain as a Southern virgin. Yet Julia's smart plan is to make Moon work the apparent gold mine that supposedly exist on her property. Really this film is nothing great, it's just so out of place for a genre of Jack's and the film is paced as a slapstick style comedy making it a very amusing western with no drama found that's so common in western films. Still it has it's good points to watch mainly the growing and transformation of the Steenburgen character into a molding lady of experience and her screen chemistry with Jack was good. Also appearances from John Belushi, Ed Begley Jr., and Christopher Lyold are worth mention, and any film with Jack in it especially if your a fan is worth a watch at least once.