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Texasville (1990)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
7/15, 12/19
7/15:
Any connection between The Last Picture Show and Texasville is
purely coincidental.
In fact, you should forget the black-and-white classic ever existed. Texasville is one of the worst movies
I've ever seen. It's akin to watching an apathetically boring two-hour trashy soap opera episode of Dallas.
Although most of the ensemble cast return, none of them resembles the characters they played in the original. That's
because many were washed up in Hollywood hitherto and thus were desperate for work. The same goes for Peter
Bogdanovich who saw his career go in a steep decline after Mask. Hence, Ellen Burstyn
is the only one smart enough not to come back.
Of everybody, Cybill Shepherd, who looks greatly aged, is the worst. She takes up too much screen time, and her
character wasn't that special to begin with. It's nauseating to watch her parade around and act like she's the
queen of the town. Plus, thirty-three years is a hell of a long time to rekindle a friendship with Duane Jackson
(Jeff Bridges) which has been left for dead.
The lead actor of the original, Timothy Bottoms, is reduced to nothing. I'm not sure why Duane is the star
of the show when he was at best a supporting character and wasn't interesting from the get-go.
Keeping up with the new characters proves impossible for me. Sure, I can remember everybody's names from the
original but not in this sequel. When the closing screen credits rolled, I hardly recognized any of them.
All in all, Texasville is The Last Picture Show turned upside
down with everything gone wrong.
12/19:
Beyond horrible to the core, Texasville is an unwatchable sequel to
The Last Picture Show.
There's nothing special going on despite everybody trying too hard to make it to be otherwise. It's rather about
trashy stars of a failed soap opera sitcom. Let's face it: Jacy Farrow was the Slut of the Year in Anarene. She
should've skipped town and not come back. In reality, Cybill Shepherd is a no-talent actress whose fifteen minutes
of fame ran out quickly after her screen debut in
The Last Picture Show. Being naked had everything to do with it.
Why is Jeff Bridges in every damn scene? The original wasn't his but Timothy Bottoms' picture. Therefore, the
latter should've gotten the most attention; instead, all I got out of him is his lazy colorless eye. Oh, poor
Genevieve...she's in crutches, but who the hell cares? Cloris Leachman is on her exercise kick for
I-have-no-earthly-idea-why reason. The whole sad reunion makes no sense.
All in all, a giant box-office failure, Peter Bogdanovich made the mistake of allowing Texasville to exist.