The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Many critics were less than pleased with the chemistry between Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton in 1982's THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS (an adaptation of the Broadway musical), but I found it endearing and mostly believable.  Sometimes awkward, other times perfectly natural.  What's so great about that is that's how real life tends to be.  Even between lovers who've known each other for years.  The actors, both of whom radiate megawatt star power, are so enjoyable to watch that we can forgive the occasional dropped moment. 

I cite two lengthy scenes - the first in Miss Mona's bedroom and a later one where she and Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd are relaxing under the stars.  For the former, the raciness and innuendoes are thick, some of them involving skimpy undies the Sheriff has to model.  The scene establishes the characters' relationship and easy rapport.  This being a musical, both get to sing.  We know about Dolly's voice. Burt's? Eh, but his hesitation is part of the charm.  In the second scene, the characters get to comment on themselves in revealing fashion, and shoot, they even get mildly theological! It's laid back and just what the film, otherwise busy with all manner of plotting, really needs.  Even if it leadens the pace a bit.

Miss Mona runs the hundred year old brothel known as the "Chicken Ranch" outside of Gilbert, Texas.  Earl and everyone else looks the other way regarding its legality.  Everyone's happy, so what the hell?  Even the town wives are tolerant of their men's wanderings.  As Miss Mona says, "the cows appreciate the time off when a bull goes over to another pasture."

But then Melvin P. Thorpe (Dom DeLuise, in an odd but amusing portrayal), a self appointed crusader for Good from Houston learns of the Chicken Ranch and sets out to get it shut down.  This leads to some uncomfortable confrontations (and a barrage of PG-rated level cussin' in an R-rated movie) between Melvin and the Sheriff, but also between Mona and the Sheriff.  The film's mostly light comedic tone will somewhat clumsily shift to more serious waters at times.  Dolly will get to sing her old hit (and future one for Whitney Houston) "I Will Always Love You."

Co-writer/director Colin Higgins (who worked with Dolly on NINE TO FIVE) manages to create a charming, damned near impossible to dislike couple of hours, though maybe the tonal shifts are what keep it from being as beloved as films like GREASE, which handled the melancholy moments with ease. They're a bit clunky here.  It's also too bad that Charles Durning, who plays the Governor and gets a great number late in the movie, isn't seen more.  His tune, about political doublespeak and side stepping, reflects the overall honesty of this movie, which I appreciated.  The seamier elements, while not lewd, are also not whitewashed.  This a surprisingly pro-sex movie, and mostly a good time.