Word: nicholson
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...Jack Nicholson plays the role of Henry Moone with an unmistakable relish that suggests self-indulgence as the major appeal of the part. Moone is a bank robber and horse thief whose neck is scheduled to be caressed by the coarse noose of a hangman's rope, as reward for his many trans gressions against border town society and the upstanding folks of Longhorn, Texas. An ornery sort by nature, Moone greets the attending man of the cloth at the gallows with an irreverent "Go to hell." This kind of gutter humor holds the film together during the ensuing...
...Nicholson, having set out to direct a feature-length movie, obviously decided he might as well use a plot while he's at it, no matter how flimsy it might be. It turns out, then, that the city laws of Longhorn include an ordinance that provides a last-minute out for the condemned. If one of the Longhorn ladies can muster up enough courage to take a fellow like Henry Moone as her lawfully wedded husband, she can literally give the jailbird a new lease on life. "Ordinance wives" they call 'em in Longhorn, and much to the good fortune...
Perhaps the most unfortunate feature of Goin' South is its unfulfilled potential. Nicholson cast John Belushi in a minor role as a Mexican deputy sheriff of Longhorn, and the possibilities of this team could have been endless. Instead, Belushi pops up in only a few scenes where he can show off his Mexican accent and look sleazy. Expanding the part, or casting Belushi in a more prominent role, might well have saved the movie from becoming a low-budget exercise in the training of Jack Nicholson, director. But that's just how it wound up: filming more of the familiar...
...Ballad of Cable Hogue. A good-hearted rogue with slovenly personal habits, Moon is the essence of frontier vulgarity. He gobbles meals in a single bite, guzzles booze as if it were mother's milk and addresses women with a courtliness so exaggerated that it comes out obscene. Nicholson's repertoire of dumb grins and crazed laughs is as amusing as ever, but what makes the characterization take off is his monomaniacal concentration. Nicholson understands that ridiculous characters are hilarious only if they take themselves completely seriously...
...previously unknown actress, Steenburgen accomplishes the impressive feat of holding her own with Nicholson: she tosses off cool sallies to counter his lunatic riffs. When they finally fall in love, the couple make a surprisingly tender pair. In much smaller parts, John Belushi, Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Morris have splendid moments as varmints who give new life to the word mangy. Nicholson never lets anyone in the cast, him self included, go overboard...