From All Movie Guide:
Plot Synopsis by Eleanor Mannikka
The still unknown Kevin Costner carries this film that involves five college roommates on a last "fandango" before they separately face the harsh realities of an unpredictable future. It is 1971, and the Vietnam War has not yet ended. Gardner Barnes (Costner) has extended his college years by six semesters in an attempt to stave off the rapidly approaching future, Kenneth (Sam Robards) has just canceled his wedding in a drunken look at reality, Lester (Brian Cesak) loves alcohol and tags along with the group just to have a good time, Dorman (Chuck Bush) is devoted to existentialism and flights of poetic fancy, and Phil (Judd Nelson) is barely a member of the group because he is consorting with the enemy: he is a member of ROTC. This unlikely mismatch cavorts through several classic college pranks, among them taking bets on daredevil acts like skydiving into the middle of nowhere. As their high jinks continue, it becomes apparent that their real desire is not to live a wild life for its own sake, but to postpone the moment when they will have to leave school and its lifestyle behind them.
I watched Fandango for the first time last night, in order to prep for my eventual "80's List" submission on The Criterion Forum. I sought it out because I thought I had read a poster in the 80's thread (thought, because now I can't find it) say he enjoyed it more than Levinson's "Diner". Tarantino also calls it one the best film writer/director debuts ever.
Now, I wouldn't go that far (on either statement; "Diner" is a better directorial debut). But it is a fairly enjoyable on-the-road/coming-of-age film bolstered by an ensemble cast including Kevin Costner, Sam Robards, Judd Nelson, and Chuck Bush as college grads on one last road trip before the 1971 Draft. There's some other dude that is asleep/nursing a hangover with them the whole time, but I honestly forgot about him for most the movie.
The use of this cast and how they frame them is what I enjoyed most about the film. Costner is in full swagger mode , Robards' character is the one who makes bad decisions, and Nelson is the whiny one who must learn to toughen up. They all have to mature and it's fairly typical, but what saves it are:
A great understated performance by Chuck Bush as "Dorman". He's the fourth of the four/five (yeah, that sleeping kid who's not in the poster. He's five, right?) guys taking the road trip and has no back story compared to Costner, Robards, and Nelson. He's just around to read Sartre and Gibran, and help out physically. He just barely has more of a character arc than the sleeping hangover kid. Which is too bad, because I enjoyed him the most. More so than the whininess of Robards and Nelson. This movie came out the same year Nelson was in "The Breakfast Club" and "St. Elmos Fire" (which I haven't seen in forever), which now looks like kind of a peak year for the Brat Packer.
With so many movies having trouble with their endings these days, I was honestly suprised that Reynolds ended the film like he did. Affectingly melancholic indeed. And no "Where Are They Now" title cards at the end!
I found a website dedicated to the film,Howaboutafandango.com, and I learned that a plane/helicopter sequence was filmed above the highways of my old hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma! Alot of the movie was filmed around Marfa, Texas ("Giant" is referenced in the film), the same location as recent films "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". I swear a gas station the Groovers stop at looks like one that Anton Sugur does.
The film is set in 1971, but really has that eighties feel to it. I can't really explain it any better than to point out it is produced by Amblin, at which point I feel like they were at a high point. Maybe it's Costner's mullet in a flashback/dream(?) sequence, or Robards' fiancee having crimped hair at one point...the airplane pilot goes to pick up Robards' fiancee in a big-house suburban type nighborhood...
But I digress; I enjoyed this film and was wondering who else has seen it. I don't think it adds anything new to it's genre(s), but is a great lazy afternoon hangout type flick to put on. I may be giving it a special pass because I enjoyed these types of films popping up on HBO, growing up in the eighties. I completely missed this one back then.
Reynolds went on to "Prince Of Thieves" and "Waterword", but I've heard that "The Beast" is worth watching. Has anyone seen it? I also read that Reynolds wrote the original script for "Red Dawn" which John Milius rewrote(re-Righted).
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