Texasville

Uncut - 03/01/2005
"'[T]here's much to admire visually, an implicit, resonant, pining nostalgia."

Director Peter Bogdanovich revisits small-town Texas life in the long-awaited sequel to his 1971 masterpiece THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. It's been over 30 years since Duane Jackson (Jeff Bridges), Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms), and Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) graduated from high school. Life is still bittersweet as the town prepares to host the county's centennial celebration. Duane struck it rich with oil, but is saddled with $12 million in debt and a shop-a-holic wife, Karla (Annie Potts). To make matters worse, his dysfunctional children are out of control: his teenage son has affairs with older, married women; his daughter is on a continuous carousel of divorces and engagements; and the twins are egg throwing, smart-mouthed adolescents. Duane himself is a local legend with the ladies, but he's completely thrown when Jacy, who's been living abroad, returns to his sleepy hometown to mourn the death of her child. Sonny, meanwhile, has become a local politician and businessman, but is increasingly forgetful and suffers from all too realistic hallucinations. Other cast members reprising their original roles from the first film include Cloris Leachman as Ruth Popper, Eileen Brennan as Genevieve Morgan, and Randy Quaid as Lester Marlow. TEXASVILLE, like its prequel, is based on a Larry McMurtry novel.

This sequel to THE LAST PICTURE SHOW rejoins the characters in small-town Texas, many years later into adulthood where everyone's "grown up." Duane has made and lost his fortune in oil; Sonny, the mayor, seems to be drifting from reality; Jacy returns, a film "star," to grieve over her dead son; and Lester is having trouble running the bank and his love life, in this melancholy view of little town blues. The characters reveal the second act of their story in scenes that evoke the changes that had overtaken the nation as well as their private lives. The film stars most of the original cast from the prequel, including Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges, and Cloris Leachman.

Friends | Illness | Theatrical Release