CADILLAC RANCH
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.5 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 Shown at the 1996 SXSW Film Festival Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Mature themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Suzy Amis, Renee Humphrey, Linden Ashby, Caroleen Feeney, James Metzler, Christopher Lloyd Director: Lisa Gottlieb Producers: J. Todd Harris, Harvey Kahn Screenplay: Jennifer Cecil Cinematography: Bruce Douglas Johnson
Distilled to its purest essence, CADILLAC RANCH is a traditional road picture featuring female characters -- a kinder, gentler THELMA AND LOUISE. All the conventions of the genre are present, from the wild car chases to the protagonists' bonding. There's a robbery, a murder, a romance, a wedding, and a bag of money at the end of the rainbow. What makes it all worthwhile is not that Jennifer Cecil's script is a marvel of originality, but that the three main characters are fun, likable gals who make the whole 100-minute adventure entertaining.
CJ (Suzy Amis) is the oldest of the three Crowley sisters. 22 years ago, when the girls' father vanished from their lives, CJ was charged with caring for her siblings. Ultimately, the pressure was too much for her, and she slipped over to the "wrong side of the tracks", making a local jail her second home. Frances (Linden Ashby), the middle sister, is a sour brunette who remembers her father with bitterness, and whose attitude towards CJ isn't any more forgiving. Finally, there's Mary Katherine (Renee Humphrey), the youngest, who's trying to reunite her whole family for her upcoming nuptials.
Together, the three sisters embark on a cross-Texas journey to the Cadillac Ranch, where ten old cars are half-buried nose-down in the ground. There, according to a letter CJ recently received, their father has hidden "his treasure" for them to find. Of course, the Crowley sisters aren't the only ones headed in that direction. On their trail are two men with vastly different motives: Wood (Christopher Lloyd), a sadistic killer who wants the treasure, and Beau (James Metzler), a too- good-to-be-true hunk who falls for Frances.
There's nothing particularly deep or challenging about CADILLAC RANCH, but the simple story supports three solid characters and a dose of effective humor. While CJ, Frances, and Mary Katherine aren't the best-developed trio of women to take off in a car, each has a little more going for her than a typical stereotype, and the psychology of their relationships with each other and with their father gives CADILLAC RANCH an edge. When the drama works, it does so because the characters seem real.
CADILLAC RANCH is beautifully photographed, but it isn't an acting clinic. Of the three principals, Suzy Amis is the best. Linden Ashby is sporadically effective, and Renee Humphrey tends to be a little too perky for her own good. Christopher Lloyd plays the bad guy with cartoonish gusto, and James Metzler is suitably heroic as "every girl's fantasy man." (Those are the director's words, not mine.) Ultimately, however, CADILLAC RANCH doesn't need Oscar-caliber performances. Even though they're only portrayed adequately, CJ, Frances, and Mary Katherine still make enjoyable road companions.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin (or) http://www2.cybernex.net/~berardin
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