Goin' South (1978)

This movie is one of my all time favorites. I saw it when it first came out in the 1970's and thought it deserved more praise than it got. It is mostly an entertainment comedy with such lines as "You weren't that hard to find. You were standing in the middle of town with a rope around your neck." I read someplace where Mary Steenburgen had been working as a waitress in an Arizona dinner and Nicholson stopped in and thought she would be perfect for the part. I think there is some very touching scenes between Nicholson and Steenburgen that are well written and acted. Except for Christopher Lloyd the rest of the cast is wasted. I think the only reason John Belushi is in the movie is because Nicholson wanted to meet him. At that time Saturday Night Live was considered radical chic.

Fmovies: Going' South is directed by Jack Nicholson who also stars. It's co- written by John Herman Schneider, Al Ramrus, Charles Shyer and Alan Mandel. Co-starring with Nicholson is Mary Steenburgen and Christopher Lloyd. Music is by Perry Botkin Junior and cinematography by Nestor Almendros.

1866, Longhorn, Texas and plot finds Nicholson as Henry Lloyd Moon, a small time outlaw who is captured and sentenced to hang. But a strange ordinance from Civil War days allows a condemned man to escape the gallows if an unmarried lady of the town is prepared to take him as a husband. Enter Julie Tate (Steenburgen), a virginal lady who is poles apart from the crude and scruffy Moon, who takes him in purely to help her work in the mine on her land that she insists contains gold. Could these two opposites actually develop a relationship? Can there be trust there? Will Moon survive the wrath of vengeful deputy Towfield (Lloyd) who believes Moon stole his gal?

Barely noticed upon release, where few critics of the day were prepared to give it some credit, Jack Nicholson's second film as a director found a firm fan base down in the cult basement. The advent of DVD has seen it get more exposure to film fans and critics and its stock has risen. Yes! It's still a bit too off-beat for some, the quirky comedy Western has always struggled to get mainstream praise anyway, but viewing these days it plays out as enjoyable fare whilst simultaneously giving us early glimpses of future stars of film.

In truth the film's comedic high points come in the first quarter and Nicholson strains to reach those heights again. Once the odd couple retreat to the genteel out of the way matrimonial home, the simple premise takes over and the couple engage in a battle of wills between horny beast and angelic being. On the edges of the frame popping in to view from time to time are hostile railroad officials putting the squeeze on Julia as they want her land, deputy Towfield and his cronies and Moon's old gang, the latter of which provides the catalyst for chaos. Sometimes crude, sometimes silly, the film does retain amusing worth throughout, with some zippy lines that remain quotable. Nicholson and Steenburgen are perfect foil for each other, so it's well performed and it also looks nice thanks to Almendros' photography.

The likes of John Belushi, Danny DeVito, Veronica Cartwright and Tracey Walter are in the support slots, none of whom get time enough to really impact upon the proceedings as their fans would like. It's interesting to see Lloyd and Steenburgen working together in the genre this early, because they would reteam in the Western themed third part of the Back to the Future trilogy 12 years later. While further continuation novelty sees Lloyd, DeVito and Nicholson back together after working on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 75. DeVito would swap chairs with Nicholson and direct the star in Hoffa in 1992.

More a amiable smile inducer than a side splitter, Going' South is worth seeking out if you have a kink for off-beat Oaters. 7/10

I have always loved this movie, me and my family first saw it together when I was 5 years old. I loved it then but didn't understand it. Now I'm 18. This movie is directed by Jack Nicholson, he puts together a very good cast including John Belushi, Christopher Loyd, Danny Devito, and Mary Steenburgen in her first movie. He plays a wonderful,funny part in this movie as an outlaw that is saved from the gallows from a very pretty woman named Julia, she and him don't get along at first, they have nothing in common then they learn how to get along by a strange coincidence. One of my top five Jack Nicholson films one for the family and everyone!

Goin' South fmovies. I rarely see the same movie more than once. Although I love movies, repeated viewings tend to be tedious and boring. Not so this wonderful picture which was Jack Nicholson's directing debut. I watch Going' South over and over and find something new each time. I believe that is one mark of a well-made and well-written movie.

From the opening scenes with Moon's horse keeling over as he dances celebrating his "get away" to the tender moments between Moon and Julia after they divide up the gold, I find this movie gives and keeps on giving.

Henry Moon's lines are hilarious and delivered only as Jack can do. Mary Steenburgen delivers a performance as good as any first time to the screen and the other characters are played wonderfully by current and soon-to-be stars of TV and cinema.

I love turning people on to this movie. I never get tired of watching it-I bet you won't either!

Texas, shortly after the Civil War. Henry Moon is an outlaw, on the run from the law. He is captured trying to escape to Mexico and taken back to town to be hanged. The town has a special law that a condemned man can walk free if one of the single women of the town offer to marry him. Henry is in luck - at the last moment Julia Tate offers to marry him, and pretty soon they are married. However, Henry soon discovers that Julia's motives are purely business-orientated - she needs someone to work the mine on her property. This makes for a very cold marriage...

Ostensibly a comedy-western, but not overly funny. Has its moments, but many of the attempts at humour are of a slapstick nature and end up rather silly. Had some potential as a drama, exploring and developing the relationship between Henry and Julia, but this is pretty basic and predictable.

Some pretty big names in the cast: Jack Nicholson, Mary Steenburgen (in her first movie), John Belushi, Christopher Lloyd, Ed Begley Jr and Danny DeVito (in a minor role). Unfortunately the movie does not come close to making full use of their talents. Even Nicholson seems unconvincing, even hammy at times.

Why John Belushi was even in the movie was beyond me - he doesn't have much screen time and his performance mostly consists of insane laughter and ramblings. Considering how he tended to find inspiration, I reckon that, during the filming of the movie, he did more lines off-screen than had lines on-screen...

Belushi's presence might also explain Nicholson's persistent nasally way of talking in the movie...

This is typical Jack Nicholson of the 1970s, which means good news and bad news, at least for me. I usually find the characters he plays interesting and with a decided edge, but along with that comes a profane mouth with a penchant for using the Lord's name in vain. Here, he blasphemes three times in the first five minutes. (Where is nurse Rathet when you need her?)

That's the case here, too, in this offbeat western in which co-stars with the pretty and soft- spoken Mary Steenburgen. Nicholson also directed this film.

The movie is more interesting that the description of it. If language, as mentioned above, doesn't bother you then I would recommend this as a "sleeper" film, one that isn't well- known but will surprise you with the entertainment. It has a deep cast, too, of veteran actors and newcomers who became well-known.