Better Late Then Never

A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I hadn't seen this movie in over 20 years, but it was on TV this weekend and I sat down and watched it. I remembered why I loved it. It's not rocket science or brain surgery, but it is solid entertainment with some really great performances. The story is simple enough: Girl meets boy, Girl marries boy, Girl wants to ride the new mechanical bull at the local many-acred honky tonk, girl loses boy, boy..... well, you know what I mean. The plot is simple but effective. I loved the dynamic between the 4 leads. They were excellent. Scott Glenn has never looked better and seethed with bad boy sexuality. He'd be great for a one- night hookup, but he's a little too dangerous and cruel to keep, but oh boy, was he sexy as hell. Call the movie silly, a guilty pleasure, something to be dismissed, but it is great entertainment and the performances of all involved made it something special. To me, anyway.

As a native Texan, I really love this film because at least it tries to paint a picture of the urban lifestyle of Texans who long for the more independent pioneer days, but in order to make a living must reside in an urban jungle of glass and concrete.John Travolta plays Bud, a young man who comes from the countryside of Texas and moves in with his aunt and uncle in Houston, looking for work in the oil industry so he can buy some land back home and settle down. However, along the way he discovers the Houston nightlife, Pasadena's Gilley's in particular. He meets a girl that frequents the bar and, based upon not much more than the fact that they seem to know the same dance steps, they hastily marry. The bride, Sissy (Debra Winger), is probably not more than twenty.The two really don't know each other, have never lived on their own, and have definitely never perfected the fine art of housekeeping, starting with dishwashing. Add in a brand new mechanical bull at Gilley's and its operator, Wes, a recently paroled ex-con played by Scott Glenn who has the hots for Sissy, and you have a recipe for disaster for our immature young couple.The fine cast is rounded out by Barry Corbin as Bud's ex-rodeo star uncle who dishes out sage advice, Madolyn Smith Osborne as the darling adult daughter of a rich oil man who collects cowboy lovers to ease her boredom, and Mickey Gilley as himself. This was Debra Winger's first leading film role and the start of a tide of good roles in hits that she had during the 1980s. This film was close to the end of a tide of hits for John Travolta, as he fell into obscurity during the 1980's, only to be rediscovered by the public by playing opposite a talking baby in "Look Who's Talking". Well, Gilley's burned down long ago, but this almost 38 year old film was an entertaining if not accurate picture of big city Texas life at that time. For a more accurate look at how suburban Texans live see the TV show "King of the Hill", accurate right down to the Texas shaped clock in the kitchen and the elementary schools named after Dallas Cowboy legends.The overall IMDb rating of this movie in the year 2017 is probably accurate - 6 plus out of 10. I added one star for the personal nostalgia it brings me. I added another because of the simply wonderful soundtrack and the fact that for a few months in 1980, after it came out, it filled the bars of Texas with people who were accountants and engineers by day who thought they could dance the Cotton Eyed Joe at night.

"Bud" (John Travolta) is a young man who leaves his home in West Texas to try to find a job at an oil refinery in Houston. One of the first things he does is go to a famous nightclub known as Gilley's where he meets a young woman named "Sissy" (Debra Winger) and they fall for each other immediately. They soon get married and just about every night they go back to Gilley's to have a good time. Then one night the management of the nightclub puts in a mechanical bull and their lives are changed forever. Now if this plot sounds a bit corny that's because it really is. But it manages to capture the flavor of that particular area during that particular time due in large part because of the country music which was so popular back then. No doubt, there are probably plenty of viewers who won't care for this film as it is clearly dated to a specific time in America--and I fully understand that. Be that as it may, it brought back some good memories and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

I saw it when it came out in 1980, and then several times since then on cable or satellite. A great soundtrack, a pretty good story, and some good performances by Scott Glenn and the others. I'd not liked John Travolta much before (Kotter, Grease, etc.) so this was the first role I thought was "substantial." The Western theme (mixed with Houston astronauts, high tech oil rigs) was appropriate for the 1980s, where Texas was well into the high-tech revolution and yet where "cowboy regalia" was part of the culture.Again, the soundtrack was great. --Tim May, California