Plot: What’s it about?
Let’s face it, Jack Nicholson just might be one of the most outrageous actors to come around in the last half of the century. From his early works in Easy Rider, Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to his more modern works in A Few Good Men, Hoffa and As Good as it Gets we have seen his range as an actor time and time again. He’s the winner of three Academy Awards for acting (Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets), something that no modern actor, except Katherine Hepburn, can top. Sure, Nicholson can ham it up and he seems to do this best in one of his more unrecognized roles. Goin’ South. Nicholson also directed the film and despite being a rather unnoticed movie, it contained quite a varied and star studded cast. The film featured the introduction of future Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen and it was also John Belushi’s first film as well. Though his career fell short due to his early death, Belushi tried his best to steal the show here, doing his best "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" impression. Ed Begley Jr., Danny Devito and Christopher Lloyd also have some supporting roles.
As the film opens, we meet Henry Moon. Moon is a failed bank robber, literally running from the law and trying to escape to freedom in Mexico. He manages to cross the river (aka the "border"), but is dragged back across into Texas and sentenced to hanging. However, a little known town clause states that a land-owning woman can claim someone who is about to be hanged and can have him as her husband. After one woman attempts to claim him, she dies. In steps Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen) and the two are now husband and wife. Henry Moon (Jack Nicholson) thinks that he’s a free man and now that he’s married, he can have his way with his new wife. He’s mistaken. She immediately puts him to work in a gold mine as she hopes to strike it rich and then pack up and move to Philadelphia. Evidently the movie takes place before they knew what oil was, as there are some references to it throughout the film, though no one knows what it is or what to do with it.
Eventually they do strike it rich, then greed takes over. As the two start to draw closer together, there seems to be some tension and of course a local gang finds out about the newfound gold and wants it for themselves. What the movie tries to be is a romantic, screwball comedy but it’s a western at heart. Steenburgen does a good job here and Nicholson is way over the top. Just take a look at the cover of the DVD with his wild eyes, unkept beard and the noose in the foreground. While this won’t go down in history as his best Directorial work or a "great" movie, they seemed to have some fun with it. I personally can’t imagine what it would be like if Belushi, Nicholson and Christopher Lloyd are all on the same set together. Paramount has issued a typical featureless disc, so only die hard fans of the film will likely pick this up. If you’re looking for a few good laughs, then it’s worth a rental, but the lack of any features will most likely denote a purchase.
Video: How does it look?
Goin’ South has really never looked better. The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer does it justice, as the "Old West" tends to look very sharp, crisp and clean. A number of the scenes take place inside a mine (while he’s digging for gold) and there is some grain and artifacting, but for the most part the colors seem warm and natural. We can just see the grains of rice in Jack’s beard after he gets married. Not the best-looking transfer, but it wasn’t a very big budget film and with the lack of popularity, it’s doubtful that this will ever get the "royal treatment" with supplements or a High Definition transfer. I could be wrong, but still…it looks pretty good all things considering.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, Paramount has presented this in the original mono mix which only really has any muscle during the opening and closing credits. I found the accordian during the opening scene a bit catchy, but the dialogue (fake Texas accents and all) could use a bit of work. Belushi’s Mexican sounds pretty good. You don’t get that "hiss" like with some of the really old movies, but it sounds a bit dated. Not a lot else to say here, there’s really nothing wrong with the track, but nothing that stands out either. It gets the job done and not much else.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Not one supplement.
