Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

The other day I was searching through the ON Demand free movies on my cable system. I was trying to get my money’s worth out of all the money we pay for cable. When I stumbled across the Best Little Wh*rehouse in Texas, staring Dolly Parton, and Burt Reynolds I giggled like a little school girl and clicked on it right away.

The Best Little Wh*rehouse in Texas

This movie came out when I was in High School. At that time in my life I was really in to singing, dancing, and performing. So when I heard about The Best Little Wh*rehouse in Texas coming out as a movie I was thrilled.

Jim Neighbors narrates The story of the Texas house of you know what.

In a small town in Texas there was a wh*rehouse. The wh*rehouse which was affectionately known as the, “Chicken Ranch,” had been there for over a hundred years, and had been left to the current owner Miss Mona (Dolly Parton).

Most people in the small town didn’t really seem to mind the Chicken Ranch being there. Everyone knew it was going on including the town’s Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Burt Reynolds), but since the girls pretty much kept to their selves and never caused any problems, paid their taxes nobody seemed to mind what happened behind the doors of the house. In fact many thought that a valuable service was being performed there. Miss Molly even made sure that the Chicken Ranch was a main contributor for community events.

Ed Earl and Miss Molly also had a little sneaky relationship going on, and had been together for years.

Everything seemed to be going fine up until a TV Evangelist Crusader Melvin P. Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) decided to focus on the Chicken Ranch on his watch dog type television show. Ed Earl tried to head off any problems with Thorpe but unfortunately his attempt seemed to only spur the Evangelist on.

Ed Earl talked to Miss Molly and just told her to shut down temporarily until the watch dog thing blew over, and she promised that she would forgetting that the big college championship was coming up that weekend. It had been a tradition for many years for the winning team to go to the Chicken Ranch for a celebration as their award for winning. Miss Molly didn’t feel comfortable breaking the tradition, so she went ahead and opened up the Chicken Ranch for the winning team.

In the midst of the celebration Melvin P. Thorpe and an entire television crew were headed out to the Chicken Ranch to catch some, “Raunchy Goin Ons.” Suddenly the Chicken Ranch is getting a whole lot of attention, all over Texas, and not the positive kind.

Can the Chicken Ranch survive? Can Miss Molly’s and Ed Earl’s relationship survive? Well you will have to see The Best Little Wh*rehouse in Texas.

My Thoughts

Truth be told the plot is kind of simplistic and without the music the movie wouldn’t be all that much, or it might up have taken a different tone. That being said the combination of the script, the music, and the cast make for a fun movie watching experience.
The music is toe tapping and there are some good dance sequences. That is not to say that everyone in this movie is a good singer, because in reality most of the soloists aside from Dolly couldn’t really sing at all. But they managed to pull off their musical numbers in a delightful and funny way. I bet you never imagined that Burr Reynolds could actually sing. Well he can’t, but at least he is no worse than Sylvester Stalone in Reinstone. He manages to pull it of without the viewer requiring ear plugs.

Probably the brightest spot of the movie is when Charles Durning who plays a politician sings a little number called Sidestep, a little number where he evades actually giving any outright answers to the press and public. This number is slick and funny.

Dom DeLuise also does an honorable job of poking fun of television Evangelists

There are also really good dance numbers and some good music in the movie. Ever since I saw the movie back in 1982 I have like the song Hard Candy Christmas, and I also liked it when Dolly sang, I Will Always Love You, which was really nicely re-done by Whitney Houston, but truth be told I like both versions.

One scene that had me blushing when I saw the movie as a teenager was the locker room scene with winning football scene, which has a whole lot of good looking guys showering, changing clothes, and doing a musical number, complete with some pretty good dancing.

The movie would fail without any one of its elements that being the plot, the actors, the music, and the humor. But all together they make a movie that is funny and entertaining. This is one movie that I saw for the first time many years ago and I have never forgotten it.

Note: Due to Nudity and brief drug use this movie is not appropriate for young children.

This has been another entry in the Best Little Write of sponsored by Dianaepinions. http://www.epinions.com/content_5141209220

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older