The final fifteen minute segment gives the film at least some depth. But getting there is something of a chore. In this Kristy McNichol vehicle, a young country/western singer named Travis (Dennis Quaid) and his kid sister Amanda (McNichol) travel around the South playing honky-tonk joints, en route to Nashville, where they dream of making it big. Apart from the Southern setting, the plot has almost nothing in common with the title song, first recorded by Vicki Lawrence.Most of the plot consists of bar room talk, with no fewer than three fights; country music with a couple of pretty good songs; and a rakish Travis chasing attractive females, much to the chagrin of the business oriented Amanda and jealous local rednecks. Until near the end, the story just repeats these three basic themes.I didn't believe for a second that Amanda, as a 16-year-old, was capable either of deal making with record producers or performing professionally in front of an audience. Kristy McNichol is not convincing as a Southerner and neither is Mark Hamill. Dennis Quaid fares better in the role he plays.Visuals, editing, costumes, and sets are okay but nothing special. The misleading title gives the impression of a hastily put together script to take financial advantage of the success of the Vicki Lawrence song. A thirty-minute short could have covered the same story ground and been less tedious to sit through.

Dennis Quaid plays Travis Child a skirt-chasing (yet lovable) guy who is constantly sleeping with married women and getting in trouble with the law. His sister straight arrow Amanda (Kristy McNichol) tries to keep him out of trouble but can't do it. She tries to get policeman Conrad (Mark Hamill) to help her...but has Travis gone too far? If you've heard the title song you basically know the outcome. This is a dull, totally predictable, by the numbers drama. I was one of the few people who actually paid money to see it in a theatre in 1981. I remember the snickers coming from the audience during the "dramatic" scenes...especially at the ending. The only thing that made this endurable where Quaid and McNichol. They effortlessly give out good performances and make this somewhat interesting. Also McNichol play a singer and she was a good singer so she belts out a few songs. Also, in case any one is interested, Quaid bares his butt in this one. Hamill is just terrible...but it's not entirely his fault. His character is badly underwritten and he's just there to provide a love interest for McNichol.So...this is pretty bad story-wise but worth catching if you like Quaid or McNichol. Or you can just listen to the song and get virtually the entire movie in three minutes. Pretty much forgotten...and for good reason. I give it a 5.

After 1980's "Little Darlings" grossed some $40 million at the box office, everyone credited scene-stealer Kristy McNichol with its success; the teen actress then had the opportunity to do anything she wanted...and she chose this comedy-drama with country music. Why? Because she gets to sing, act sexy and tough, be soft, and do a drunk routine (which doesn't come off--she's one of the most unconvincing drunks ever). McNichol plays business-minded sis to brother Dennis Quaid, a hell-raising, skirt-chasing musician, but his scrapes with the law make Kristy turn to cop Mark Hamill for help. That's the whole plot, really. The picture is such a mess from a director's standpoint, I can imagine the editor (Anne Goursand) sitting at her cutting machine surrounded by reels of film going out of her mind. Pieces of it are energetic, McNichol is engaging, but the guys are colorless, the writing is pedestrian, and the ending is dopey instead of moving. The rather ungainly title is lifted from a 1972 hit song, which has been rewritten completely and rerecorded here. Why did they bother using it at all? ** from ****

Yeah, it's cheesy. Dennis Quaid and Kristy McNichol sing, or try to. That just about says it all. But, I grew up watching this movie. It seems like it came on every summer, along with Kristy's other flicks: "Only When I Laugh" and "Little Darlings." I went to great lengths recently to buy the out-of-print video. Seeing it just takes me back. Great cinema? Uh, no. But good for a little nostalgia and fun cheesiness? Definitely.