After watching it I understand why Ben Johnson initially turned the role down. He said it was dirty and full of cuss words. Peter Bogdanovich made the first 3/4 of the movie feel creepy with horrible up close shots and awkward sexual moments with young people. His inner pervert distracts and almost ruins the movie. Like with the abduction scene we didn’t need that. I only watched it to see Ben Johnson’s performance and was amazed how many of the actors I knew and I really did like the the last 20 minutes or so. Not a great movie just something that you watch to see the people you grew up watching get their start.

i watched this in my 20s and didn't get it. i found it boring, dozing off in spurts. i liked some scenes but it just didn't do anything for me. watched it again in my late 30s and it hit me right in the face. the setting, atmosphere, just perfect. you're dropped in this dusty town that offers no one any future whatsoever. your programming (kids singing the fight song, football team using your youth and then forgetting all about you once you've graduated) tells you not to worry about your future, but then once school is done, this town and its people offer you little else and does not care about you because they've already used you up. this theme of youth set against the older generation is a theme throughout. you frequently hear wind in the background, further solidifying what a decrepit town and bleak future this place holds, and how it keeps people around, even as they so desperately want to go. this town is a trap, and the only person who held it together is gone. a beautiful film that needs to be seen when you're past your youth in order to appreciate it, i think.

For years I have heard about this film and how it was set in this really depressing town, so I finally gave it a look. I think the real power of this movie is that it depicts characters and situations that can be found in every town. The film really doesn't have a plot or a story, and that is completely fine. The audience is essentially a fly on the wall in the midst of several lonely people. The film doesn't judge them and doesn't spend much time on any of their stories. This allows the actors to really shine, and there are some amazing performances. I think the most striking performance was given by Cloris Leachman - I just wanted to hug her every time she was on screen. follow me at https:/IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies

I went into this completely blind and did not have a good time. I can recognize some of the performances as strong and I even see the potential in the unique relationship dynamics being explored, but with few redeemable moments and plenty of disturbing ones, I just didn't care for the characters. Exploring a setting that produces these types of characters and this type of behavior was obviously the point, but it didn't land for me.

One of the most melancholy movies I've ever seen. Every character, every scene, is suffused with such pain, yet the movie feels beautiful, not tortuous. The town feels alive and lived in, even as it dies on the vine over the course of the movie. Maybe it's because I grew up in the small town South, or maybe it's because my brother is the spitting image of Timothy Bottoms..but there's something about this movie that hits me to my core.