Rancho Deluxe

Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston shine in their roles as crazy cattle thieves who expertly cut up their prey with a chainsaw and then sell it on in portions. They prefer to get their stolen goods from John Brown, the richest cattle owner under Montana skies. But at some point the meat alone is not enough for them and they demand cash. The duo really let it rip, but Brown takes their tawdry game too far and sets a sniffer on them - who, however, is already beyond good and evil.

Despite its intention to puncture the myths of the modern West, "Rancho Deluxe" operates primarily as a cleverly packaged youth film. Although the film contains a tale of cattle rustling, it is equally a contemporary comedy about the generation gap, involving the horsing around of two "cowboys" (one white, one Indian) whose disdain for established values and notions of "freedom" from the West brings them into constant confrontation with reactionary elders. In keeping with the target audience, the film is deliberately cynical and outrageous, but at the same time fundamentally romantic and sympathetic. The combination works surprisingly well, thanks to good ensemble acting, even if Thomas McGuane's script sometimes tends towards sentimentality and clever observations.