Just perfect...

How sad is this?

As Good As It Gets

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

I watched this oddity under the title RAMBLIN' MAN. It's a broad, laidback kind of production that trades on the easygoing rural charm of something like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, except it's nowhere near as funny. The story is told in short chapters, which is an odd touch that makes it feel cheap, and features a pre-stardom Tom Selleck alongside Jerry Reed as a couple of cowboys having adventures in Nashville. The likes of Claude Akins show up in cameos throughout, but the film simply isn't very interesting and isn't very funny; oddly, it was written by former Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster, who perhaps was a bit out of his depth with it.

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.

"Concrete Cowboys" is a rather unusual mix of buddy comedy, country musical (with several real-life singers appearing as themselves) and murder mystery. It does fairly well in all departments: Tom Selleck and Jerry Reed (who also sings the amusing theme song) have a comfortable chemistry, and the mystery plot has one or two good surprises (and even lying flashbacks!). The problem with the film is that it's too laid-back for its own good - a tighter script would have helped. Apparently this was followed by a short-lived TV series, where Selleck was replaced by another actor - which is probably why the series failed. **1/2 out of 4.

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.