sandcrab277
I've never seen a jack nicholson movie that wasn't chaotic so this didn't disappoint ... i just can't get into watching a film he's in ... we'd have all been better off if they hanged him at the beginning instead letting this fiasco run on
ozzytank
Incredibly underrated flick - great from from start to finish with a perfect blend of action, romance and laughs. First saw it as a teen on HBO a year or two after its theatrical release and it remains one of my absolute all time favorite movies. Great story, dialogue and cast. Nicholson shines as an actor and director while displaying delightful wry comedic timing. Filled with classic scenes and quotable lines. I would guess I've watched "Goin' South" several dozen times and enjoyed every second. If you haven't seen this gem, trust the positive reviews, ignore the misguided negative reviews and check it out.
classicsoncall
Until I saw "Goin' South' the other night, I didn't think Jack Nicholson ever acted any crazier than he did in "The Shining". But he's got that performance topped here as the career outlaw turned anxious husband Henry Lloyd Moon. And if you didn't know any better you might even consider this picture a comedy, some of the dialog and situations are outrageously funny. I had to wonder whether Mel Brooks might have gotten the idea for the hanging horse in "Blazing Saddles" from an opening scene; after that it's just one crazed situation after another. With fellow cast members from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" like Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito, the Western town of Longhorn is set on it's ear when Miss Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen) saves Moon from a severe case of rope burn and attempts to tame her new husband into some semblance of humanity. It just ain't gonna work.
dougdoepke
Many folks think Nicholson can do no wrong. But in my book, this mess has to be the nadir of his often outstanding career. When he's got a strong guiding hand, as in 5 Easy Pieces (1970) or Chinatown (1974), he can deliver aces. Here, however, he's directing himself, and the result is a leering, eye-rolling, slice of buffoonery, perhaps an ego-trip of some misguided sort. The movie itself collapses into near incoherence, lacking both narrative sense and timing. Events follow in no particular order, while scenes too often appear to indulge the actor instead of playing to others or advancing the story. Actually, the movie reminds me perversely of a kids Saturday matinée, where the baddie schemes to grab the good girl's land and Gabby Hayes or Smiley Burnette supplies comic relief. Except here, there's only the buffoon, the land- grabber, and the good girl. I do, however, feel sorry for Mary Steenburgen whose affecting performance gets lost amid the eye-rolling antics. Now, I don't know if Nicholson went on a coke binge while shooting in Mexico, as did his buddy Dennis Hopper when he made the disastrous The Last Movie (1971) in Peru. But it would explain a lot. Anyway, the 100+ minutes remains an obscure mess, even 40-years later, and is not so much rollicking as just plain idiotic.
AD
