Until I saw "Goin' South' the other night, I didn't think Jack Nicholson ever acted any crazier than he did in "The Shining". But he's got that performance topped here as the career outlaw turned anxious husband Henry Lloyd Moon. And if you didn't know any better you might even consider this picture a comedy, some of the dialog and situations are outrageously funny. I had to wonder whether Mel Brooks might have gotten the idea for the hanging horse in "Blazing Saddles" from an opening scene; after that it's just one crazed situation after another. With fellow cast members from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" like Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito, the Western town of Longhorn is set on it's ear when Miss Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen) saves Moon from a severe case of rope burn and attempts to tame her new husband into some semblance of humanity. It just ain't gonna work.

"Goin' South" is a watchable comedy directed by and starring Jack Nicholson. Filmed cheaply with a local crew down in Mexico, the film wasn't received well upon release. "Star Wars" had rendered westerns obsolete and screwball comedies were long out of date.Still, "Goin' South" holds up pretty well. Nichsolson's performance is amazing and cinematographer Néstor Almendros equals his work on Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven".The film works more as a bizarre insight into Jack Nicholson, than a comedy. He turns what should be light slapstick, into a pretty nasty and mean spirited R rated comedy-drama. Watching his filmography from end to end, I'm surprised how consistently wicked and misogynistic his characters are. Here he players an outlaw who's hired by a sexually repressed woman to work in her gold mines. After tying her to a bed and giving her the hump of her life, she renounces her repressed ways and gradually begins to appreciate his animalistic masculinity.The Jack Nicholson persona seems to constantly be seeking to dominate women. If he can't have his way, he breaks down. "Goin South" is like a happy version of his "Carnal Knowledge", only here he finally gets a girl who submits to his primal charm.In terms of comedy, the film is similar in tone to the Coen Brothers' "O Brother Where Art Thou?" It's not as visually stylish, but the emphasis on wacky accents is the same. The cast includes Danny Devito, John Belushi and Christopher Lloyd, and many other comic faces pop up.But it's Jack Nicholson's face that keeps us watching. He's manic, cartoonish, sadistic and riveting. Take a look at the IMDb photo of this film (the DVD cover). The guy looks like a bearded Saddam Hussein, laughing at his hang man's noose like a psychopath. Nicholson's face is a work of art. His eyebrows are constantly twitching, his eyes constantly mischievous, his teeth lighting up his face. Whether you enjoy the film will depend on whether you love his scenery chewing. He puts so much energy and skill into his performance here that he transcends everything else about this film.6/10- Worth one viewing. I recommend fast forwarding all the exposition and simply watching Jack act. The guy's a pleasure to watch.

I knew that going in and watching "Goin' South" that it wouldn't be anything great or special and it certainly is not one of Nicholson's better works even though he directed. Clearly the western genre is not Jack's trademark type of film and his character is out of place at least appearance wise. It just looked so uncommon seeing Nicholson looking rugged with a hairy beard and listening to him talk in a slang country western drawl sounded so out of place. Anyway this little western try which was directed by Nicholson himself has himself as outlaw Henry Moon set in the 1860's. Moon is about to be hanged only to be saved by a lovely young gal who promises to marry him and take charge. Her name is Julia Tate(Mary Steenburgen)who's headstrong and smart yet her character is very sheltered and plain as a Southern virgin. Yet Julia's smart plan is to make Moon work the apparent gold mine that supposedly exist on her property. Really this film is nothing great, it's just so out of place for a genre of Jack's and the film is paced as a slapstick style comedy making it a very amusing western with no drama found that's so common in western films. Still it has it's good points to watch mainly the growing and transformation of the Steenburgen character into a molding lady of experience and her screen chemistry with Jack was good. Also appearances from John Belushi, Ed Begley Jr., and Christopher Lyold are worth mention, and any film with Jack in it especially if your a fan is worth a watch at least once.

One can't help but notice how Nicholson eventually gave up on concealing his hilariously obvious coke nose (to the untrained ear it just sounds like "allergies"- this is the usual excuse given, of course....). Over the counter allergy medicine can help with allergy symptoms. Nothing helps cocaine-blasted sinuses. Not even Scorsese could direct while coked up. Nicholson's attempt is considerably more disastrous. Take a second look at the cast (see Belushi) and it isn't hard to deduce what happened to this movie.Note that it gets steadily worse as the film progresses.I wasn't expecting a "great" movie being that this was Nicholson's only directing effort. I was just curious. I didn't expect something this bad. Yikes.