Hard Country

In the current days of CGI, it is rare to see movies like this nowadays!! This is a gritty, blue collar love-story with a lot of heart. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this story - the country bars, the little apartment, the mobile-home lot, the fence factory. It's gritty and real- the dust, the wind, the empty Texas roads. Kim Basinger is truly delightful as Jodie. She's all charm, with her Georgia drawl in full swing. I am a huge Jan Michael Vincent fan, and this is one of his best roles! It's nice to see him in a more adult role. The heavy drinker side of his character comes naturally - obviously! But Jan always had a great underlying angst in all his characters. He always has a detached, macho pathos which he conveys with those eyes - just makes him fascinating to watch. He has great chemistry with Kim Basinger in this. He struggles with his job, his sleazy brother, his drinking, and Jodie's willfulness. It's a great role for him! This is a MUST SEE for any Jan or Kim fans out there!

This was filmed in Bakersfield. I was a cowboy extra in the bar scenes. We drank Lone Star beer until they ran out and would only let us pretend to drink when film was in the camera LOL. A good friend was the stand in for Kim Basinger. Made $70/day and had a ball. Because of this I have a Kevin Bacon number of 2! How many can say that? When not in the scene we all played poker in a tent and got pretty wasted on that Lone Star. They fed us if we worked over 6 hours I think. Good sack lunches. One take was at night and was a blast. They used the Basque Club on South Union to film in. They had it all decorated like a Texas honky tonk bar which was the setting of the movie. One scene was shot in a small restaurant in town. I went to see it but discovered I was on the cutting room floor.

This over-long Texas flick tries hard but unfortunately is rather dull in stretches. Very predictable ending. Basinger acquits herself well in her debut. There are a few nice moments and the Texas backdrop is pleasant enough. A lack of strong direction and drive and not enough charisma on the part of Jan-Michael Vincent are what cause the film to suffer.

This has been one of my favorites. Kim is so innocent and probably at her most beautiful. this is just a feel good movie, you dont have to think about the plot just sit back and watch and enjoy the simple life of Texas and their dreams of being somewhere else.

I found this movie very entertaining. Vincent is great, as well as Kim Basinger, I would even say awesome. The intensity through the whole picture, both regarding chemistry between actors and events, makes this 100 minutes well worth watching. Thanks to the intensity, even some of the more or less over the top Texas clichés becomes very interesting. And the environment is great as well. If I would say a couple of things about the minor good things, it would be the returning scenes with performances. They're great, but they're too many. Tanya Tucker even sings two full songs, making it partly look more like a musical than a motion picture. These are minor flaws though, and they're easily overlooked.