RUSTLER'S RHAPSODY. Directed and written by Hugh Wilson; produced by David Giler for Paramount. Starring Tom Berenger and G.W. Bailey. Rated PG (language, slightly vulgar jokes).
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"Cowboys' Cacophony" would be a more appropriate title for this movie. It attempts to parody the old fashioned western. And it includes some funny bits along this line. But they're not connected by an even remotely interesting story or characters. The plot is so jerky and the satire so inconsistent that the movie's not effective on its own or as a parody.
One of the best sequences in Rustlers' Rhapsody is the beginning. Narration tells us about Rex O'Herlihan the famous "singing cowboy" as we see black-and-white footage of Rex (Berenger) rescuing a beleaguered stagecoach. Standard western fare.
But the narrator wonders how Rex would handle himself in a modern western, where the hero isn't always invincible. As he speaks, the image expands to fill the screen, colors take over, and the tinny soundtrack swells to stereo. A clever transition and a clever idea.
And it's not the last good bit in the movie, just the best. The various discussions of Rex's spiffy clothes, while perhaps overdone, are usually funny. So is the running gag about Rex's habit of disabling bad guys only by shooting the guns out of their hands.
Unfortunately though, these funny bits are few and far between. They're separated by many more scenes which are poorly paced, often leeringly off-color and just plain not funny.
Berenger looks good as Rex, and has some good scenes with sidekick Peter (Bailey). But he overdoes the world-weary routine. At least after his first discussions with Peter about the similarity of westerns. This town is just like all the others in the West, he says, and the same things will happen here that happen everywhere else.
Actually, as Rustlers' Rhapsody progresses (or regresses) Berenger seems to be increasingly embarrassed by being involved in it. And well he might. He's worth better material than this.
Bailey as the town drunk has his share of funny scenes, although his style is too unvarying to keep one's interest through a whole movie. Another problem with his character is motivation. We're given no good reason why he wants so badly to team up with Rex. Not even that there's nothing better to do.
The most disappointing thing about Rustlers' Rhapsody, however, is that it falls so far short of its original, promising premise. It returns only fitfully to the provocative idea of the less-than-perfect hero stuck in the western, the kind of story which has always required a perfect hero.
When it remembers this idea, the movie is funny and interesting as well. For example, when the bad guys, convinced they can never win because they're bad guys, hire a good guy of their own to take on Rex. The casting of this turncoat is an inspiration (he's Patrick Wayne, son of the ultimate good guy himself). And his first confrontation with Rex, where they argue about who's better, and therefore who will win the shootout, is a really good scene.
It's just a shame that the makers of Rustlers' Rhapsody couldn't have sustained this level of satire throughout. Blazing Saddles, imperfect though it is, will have to remain the last word on western parody.
May 22, 1985