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The riddle at the heart of the movie is exactly what kind of lothario Duane is. I have no doubt that he may have once been the kind to juggle several ladies on the sly, but he now seems so befuddled by his plummeting financial/social status and so overwhelmed with the pace of his existence, as to be beyond sex. Bridges plays Duane as a bemused outsider and observer to the escalating sexual shenanigans of his family and friends, almost as if he is the asexual Jughead from the old Archie comics. This disconnect between the way everyone treats him and who he appears to be is jarring, but it feels natural. Texasville is seen from his POV and it makes sense that he would be, if not the hero, no villain either.

As I alluded to earlier, there are a lot of incidents in Texasville, many of them entertaining, but not much of a plot. The film does not need one. As it ambles along following its frequently oversized characters, with their lusts, and their shotguns, and their needs, it doesn’t seem to be headed anywhere in particular, until it arrives at a climax where a fractured group must unexpectedly coalesce on the spur of the moment and in which friendship and love actually do save the day, clichés be damned.

Seeing the actors from The Last Picture Show older and (sometimes) wiser is both a kick and a little sad. Among the newcomers, Potts is a revelation with a brassy, bluesy performance the likes of which her career has never seen since. Bogdanovich seems older and wiser too, for his part, as if in reading Texasville he was delighted to see where the characters had gotten off to and couldn’t wait to share the experience. Texasville is a small delight, but since the film is all about recognizing such things wherever they may be, it seems appropriate the art should mirror its message.

Next time: Come wander down Satan’s Alley and take a cinematic trip through Hell as Chapter Two begins to take on the most notorious sequels of all time.

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