***SPOILERS*** It's 1954 when back then we were all young and innocent as Nadine Hightower, Kim Basinger, goes to the office of photographer Raymond Escobar, Jerry Stiller, to retrieve a number of cheesecake photos he took of her the day before. Nadine feels that if made public the photos would ruin her cultivated over the years girl next door image. Before you can say "Stiller & Mera" Escobar is stabbed off camera by an unknown assailant as Nadine is locked,for safe keeping, in his closet! On Escobar is a yellow envelope of what at first Nadine thought was her photo spread but instead it turns out to be photos of a new government super-highway being built in and around Austin Texas! We never quite know who murdered Escobar but the fact that he hid the blueprints for the superhighway in Nadine's file shows that he expected that someone was out to get him! That together with the photo-stats of the highway In order to buy up the land around it at dirt cheap prices and end up making a killing on it! The only killing that he made was in icing himself: Raymond Escobar.1930's like screwball comedy with a few murders mixed in for good measures has Nadine and her soon to be divorced, until be buys her a late model car with air conditioning, screwy husband Vernon,Jeff Bridges,on the run from shady land developer Buford Pope, Rip Torn, and his bumbling henchmen Cecil & Floyd, Gary Gubbs & Mickey Jones, all throughout the movie. Pope who later after Floyd screwed things up for him for the last time blew him away in sheer frustration making the odds switch to both Nadine & Vernon, with Cecil now completely out of the picture, by them outnumbering him, minus his henchmen, two to one.There's as also Vernon's greedy and back stabbing third cousin Dwight Estes, Jay Patterson, who threw his lot in with Pope and ended up, when Pope thought that things were going his way,getting blasted by him when he stupidly asked for his share in getting him the photo-stats from Vernon. **SPOILERS*** The ending of the movie was both a real gem & unexpected surprise with both Vernon & Nadine at the local police station up on charges for stealing US Government top secret documents: The blueprint or photos of the new superhighway. And all that was found on them was what Nadine was looking for in the first place! Something that you won't send her and Vernon for as much as 7 to 15 years behind bars in a federal prison!

I saw this movie with a friend. Immediately after leaving the theater, he asked, "what was that movie about?" I racked my brains and could only remember one seen where the lead lady is crossing between two buildings on a rickety ladder. The movie can't be very good if you suppress over 99% of it.

This is a very cute comedy caper movie. Kim Basinger is perfect as the ditsy West Texas small town girl, and Jeff Bridges is great as her even dumber husband. Rip Torn is also good as the villain. Plot is pretty simple, but fun. I've shared this with several others in the 35+ year old class, and they all enjoyed it. Very good chemistry between the leads.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comedy caper movie set in the Deep South, and I can't understand why it has such a low average vote. Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges play a divorced couple who team up to solve a murder mystery and end up re-igniting their relationship. The two have a good on-screen chemistry which, along with the comic-book-style humour and plot, is what makes the movie. All in all an enjoyable comedy/romance/thriller/caper/adventure affair with style and wit. 9/10