Rancho Deluxe (1975) is a hang-out movie but also a wavelength. Whether you enjoy it or not is dependent on your taste for something plotless, loose and low-key. Plus if you find a young Jeff Bridges and a young Sam Waterson to be a charismatic pair of actors to hang out with (though you will also need to jump the mental hurdle of Waterson playing a half Native American character – New Hollywood was still Old Hollywood in many ways). I remember the MGM DVD cover and assumed Rancho Deluxe was a good ole boy comedy with young cowboys chasing women and getting up to mischief. Rancho Deluxe is that movie, but also a bit more subtle and amiable, following two young dudes in Montana who kill time by exchanging flip dialogue (written by Thomas McGuane of 92 In The Shade) and rustling cattle for rent money. The skerrick of plot to be found is their on-going quest to steal from a big time rancher, John Brown (Clifton James). There’s also the rancher’s bored wife (Elizabeth Ashley), the ranch hands Burt and Curt (Harry Dean Stanton and Richard Bright), and an over-the-hill cattle detective (Slim Pickens) and his coquettish niece (Charlene Dallas). Everyone is just killing time, most of the characters from elsewhere, looking to wear the Old West iconography, or what’s left of it in modern times. The movie is so loose it doesn’t mind taking time to follow the romantic misfortunes of a supporting character. Or throw in a live bar performance from Jimmy Buffett (who composed the film’s score and title track) – plus a blink or you’ll miss it cameo from none other than Warren Oates obscuring his face with a harmonica. Directed by Frank Perry (of The Swimmer) with attention to the vistas and the comedy across the performances. There are some strong visual flourishes, mixing up the Western mythos with modern times, particularly a great scene that takes place in the reflection of a video game screen when Bridges and Stanton shoot the shit while playing some Pong in a honky tonk bar. I had a good time with these cowboy chillers. Available to stream on Stan. Recommended.
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