LeonLouisRicci Occasionally, in the Art of Movie Making, all things come Together with a Synchronistic Symmetry and the Result is a Near-Perfect Picture that seems as Well Crafted as it Possibly could be.This happens, No Matter the Budget, Production Capabilities, or the Artisans Applying Their Craft. This is one of those Movies.A Gritty, Early Seventies Character Study of a Merle Haggard Style Country Music Singer. A Mid-Level Star that Humps the Highways Playing Honky Tonks and the Sort, and with His Charming Crusty Ways, takes Advantage of Anyone on His Path to one more Payday.It's that Payday, along with Pills and Alcohol, that Fuels the Folks in the Band and the Entourage that is Small enough to fit into a Cadillac and one more Trailing Vehicle.Rip Torn Simply Embodies the Type and becomes completely Lost in the Role. He's "In the Skin" of this Self-Centered Warbler as He Encounters Groupies, Payola DJ's, and some Irate and Hostile Folks who Don't Care much for His Lecherous Ways.The Movie is Mesmerizing with its Neo-Realism and Not One Scene seems Forced or Faked. The Dialog Crackles with Down Home Cynicism and Playful, Uneducated Insight, Fractured by a Hard Reality Colliding with the Hard Living.A Compelling, Watchable, Car-Wreck of Real People Realizing the World Around Them and What They Want isn't always What They Got Coming. A Must See, Little Known, B-Movie that hasn't lost a bit of its Edge. Primitive Movie Making at its Best.

Woodyanders Hateful, arrogant, and ill-tempered, but talented and charismatic middle-aged mid-level country music singer/songwriter Maury Dann (a bravura performance by Rip Torn in one of the finest roles of his career) gets worn down from being constantly on tour performing in seedy bars while also struggling to achieve a greater degree of success and selfishly using everyone around him. Director Daryl Duke and writer Don Carpenter do an expert and astute job of precisely etching a stark, cynical, and unsentimental depiction of the sordid and unglamorous underbelly of the 70's country music milieu: the wearying ordeal of living one's life on the road, sex with groupies, popping pills to keep on going, bribing club managers and disc jockeys, sudden outbursts of brutal violence, and sleeping in grimy motels. Moreover, Duke and Carpenter deserve extra praise for not offering any kind of sappy redemption or corny salvation for the sleazy main character; instead Dann speeds ever faster down a dark and dismal path of debauchery and self-destruction that leads to an inevitable grim conclusion. While Torn clearly dominates the film with his exceptional acting, he nonetheless receives sturdy support from Michael C. Gwynne as resourceful and long-suffering manager Clarence McGinty, Ahna Capri as Maury's bitchy fed-up main squeeze Mayleen Travis, Cliff Emmich as loyal body guard and chauffeur Chicago, and Elayne Heilveil as naive straight-laced groupie Rosamond McClintock. The downhome Alabama locations, the flavorsome country music soundtrack, and the colorful assortment of Southern locals featured throughout all greatly enhance the overall gritty authenticity. Highly recommended.

brefane Before Crazy Heart, I Walk the Line, Tender Mercies, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Nashville there was Payday, a small, sharp, incisive film that's less commercial and less sentimental, but that has far greater impact. It's a road movie that chronicles the last 36 hours in the life of country western-singer Maury Dann as his life spins out of control and he takes refuge in the backseat of his chauffeur-driven Cadillac where most of the action takes place. Director Daryl Duke achieves an almost documentary type realism with authentic backgrounds and convincing performances from a well chosen supporting cast in which the late Ahna Capri as Dann's mistress, and Elayne Heilveil as an innocent groupie are memorable. But the film belongs to wild man Rip Torn who's at his peak as Maury Dann. Unfortunately, Payday is largely unknown because it was released sporadically over a period of several years. They just don't make 'em like they used to!

christopherleebrick Rip Torn was originally slated to play the lawyer role that Jack Nicholson played in "Easy Rider". After a last-minute spat with Dennis Hopper, Torn was no longer part of the project. (Nicholson, who had pretty much given up on acting by then and was working in a technical capacity on the film, stepped into the role and the rest is history.) No matter; Torn went on to do this movie a couple years later, and if there were any justice in the movie biz (there isn't) this role would have made Rip Torn a bona fide movie star; (instead he is a respected film/t.v actor and a bona fide star of the American stage; most people in the public simply don't know who he is or they get him confused with Rip Taylor, the comedian/magician). CHECK THIS MOVIE OUT, if you're lucky enough to find it; (don't bother with the big video chain stores--you'll need a hip mom/pop shop to locate this one). It is well worth the search. Torn (as Maury Dann) does his own singing (a precursor to Robert Duvall's work in "Tender Mercies") and does it well; the supporting actors are great, the writing quirky and strong, and the direction bold. The film is also filled with some unforgettable scenes: Maury confronted by a jealous boyfriend in a diner tops the list; also, the strangely funny scene where Maury goes home and visits his barbiturate-addled Mother, and the scene where Chicago, the driver, talks about his love of cooking. Other scenes, such as when Maury goes "bird shooting", are memorable simply because they ring out as authentic and true. Some of the other comments seem disappointed with the ending; it didn't bother me. Though disturbing, I thought it worked. There was a sense of inevitability leading up to it. This is a portrait of a singer living on the edge of country music stardom and riding a "downbound train". The film is powerful and stays with you. And, yes, almost nobody knows about it.