Shrewd and resourceful Mayor Kirby T. Calo (a lively and engaging performance by William Devane) encourages the citizens of the small town of Ticlaw, Florida to use drastic and desperate measures to get tourists to patronize the community after Ticlaw is denied a much-needed freeway off ramp.
Director John Schlesinger relates the enjoyably zany story at a zippy pace as well as maintains an amiably off-the-wall tone throughout. Edward Clinton's sharp and biting script not only offers a colorful array of quirky and distinctive characters, but also pokes wickedly hilarious fun at such worthy targets as greed, money, and the hysterically extreme things people will do in the name of success and happiness.
Moreover, the spirited cast have a ball with the wacky material: Beau Bridges as a wannabe writer of children's stories, Beverly D'Angelo as a cheery nympho waitress, Daniel Stern as a zonked-out stoner hitchhiker, George Dzundza and Joe Grifasi as a pair of bumbling bank robbers, Geraldine Page as a stern nun, Howard Hesseman as a harried dentist and Terri Garr as his perky wife, David Rasche as a slick pimp, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a bickering elderly couple, Jerry Hardin as the irate governor, Paul Jabara as a goofball truck driver who'd rather be a songwriter, and John Ashton as a huffy gas station attendant. A total hoot and a half.
Director John Schlesinger relates the enjoyably zany story at a zippy pace as well as maintains an amiably off-the-wall tone throughout. Edward Clinton's sharp and biting script not only offers a colorful array of quirky and distinctive characters, but also pokes wickedly hilarious fun at such worthy targets as greed, money, and the hysterically extreme things people will do in the name of success and happiness.
Moreover, the spirited cast have a ball with the wacky material: Beau Bridges as a wannabe writer of children's stories, Beverly D'Angelo as a cheery nympho waitress, Daniel Stern as a zonked-out stoner hitchhiker, George Dzundza and Joe Grifasi as a pair of bumbling bank robbers, Geraldine Page as a stern nun, Howard Hesseman as a harried dentist and Terri Garr as his perky wife, David Rasche as a slick pimp, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a bickering elderly couple, Jerry Hardin as the irate governor, Paul Jabara as a goofball truck driver who'd rather be a songwriter, and John Ashton as a huffy gas station attendant. A total hoot and a half.