Thursday, March 29, 2012

Rhinestone



Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Bob Clark

Starring: Sly Stallone, Dolly Parton, Richard Farnsworth, Ron Leibman

From: 20th Century Fox

Here's something rather random and not usually the type of movie I watch. I came across it on cable a few nights ago so I decided to watch it. I saw some random clips of it before and plus some people online say it doesn't deserve the toxic reception it has gotten since it came out. 

The plot is that this is a comedy concerning a country singer who moved to New York City; she's Jake (Parton, who looks as boobalicious as always) and she is in a contract with a sleazy guy (Leibman) to perform at a rough joint in the city known as the Rhinestone. She wants to leave and after a conversation a bet is made that if she can turn anyone into a country singer that can withstand a performance with the nasty regulars then she can get out of the contract. He chooses the person, though; they came across doofus cabby Nick (Sly), and he eventually agrees to do it.

This movie... I wouldn't say this is one of the worst comedies I've ever seen, let alone one of the worst movies. After all, I got a decent amount of laughs out of it. But, there were also many moments that were too broad and too ridiculous for me, from the way that Sly drives his cab, to his initial singing (which is him screaming) to how Jake's small town of Tennessee is depicted when they go visit it to help him train to not be so damn terrible. It's the typical stereotype of people being complete hick hayseeds who drive ancient pickup trucks and barnyard animals, that sort of thing. There's the expected of Sly being a fish out of water, problems with the locals, he and Jake falling in love, them arguing, and that sort of thing.

At least most of the music you hear is fine. Sly does improve although you can't call him a technically great singer by any stretch of the imagination. Also, I have to remark that most of the outfits Sly wears are hilarious, mainly the shirts. His New York gear appears to be mid 80's New Wave styles, and they're so ridiculous they're great. Also great is the country clothes he wears; think Porter Wagoner in terms of being gaudy and loud, which is ironic given his history with Parton.

Like I said, at least this wasn't God-awful terrible. If you want an example of what Sly wears in the movie, go here. If you want to hear him on the soundtrack perform the classic song Drinkinstein, go here.

I'll be back on Tuesday night, as I'm spending the weekend in Miami.

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