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Another Pair of Aces
(1991)
by Johnny Web (Uncle
Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
Another Pair of Aces is a made-for-cable film
which plays out like a longer, raunchier episode of a TV
cop show, good ol' boy style. It employs the familiar
cop show (and cop movie) cliche of pairing up mismatched
buddies to solve a case. In this case, the unlikely pair
are a master swindler, played by a Texas legend,
singer-songwriter Willie Nelson; and a hard-boiled,
straight-laced Texas Ranger, played by another Texas
legend, and another perma-stoned
singer-songwriter-turned-actor, Kris Kristofferson of
Brownsville. Hmm, now that I think about it, those
buddies weren't so mismatched at all. Kristofferson IS
Willie Nelson, except younger, better looking, and with
shorter hair. In fact, I think they really are
unmismatched buddies in real life.
For various reasons not worth detailing, the thief and
the lawman are forced into an unlikely partnership to
vindicate an old-time Ranger (another Texas boy,
Temple's own Rip Torn) who seems to have gone rogue. The
film gets a bit confusing from time to time because
nobody in the film is who they are pretending to be,
except Kristofferson and Nelson. Some apparent bad guys
are actually undercover lawmen, some apparent dead guys
are really alive, some who seem to be on the side of the
law are actually bad guys, etc. Adding to the kerfuffle
is a "who cares" jurisdictional squabble between the
Rangers, some politicians, the Austin sheriff, and a
sexy FBI agent (Joan Severance, who is from Houston).
Despite all the film's attempts at subterfuge, it's all
pretty predictable if you remember the "economy of
characters" rule and ask yourself, "why did the
screenwriter introduce that apparently irrelevant
character or sub-plot?"
You never heard of this film, I suppose, because I never
heard of it until about a week ago, despite the fact
that I watch a shitload of films, and rarely miss one
with a nude scene from an established star. I was living
in Norway when Pair of Aces was first broadcast, so I
missed it then, and it obviously wasn't memorable enough
to enter my consciousness in the 20 years since then,
despite a relatively high-powered cast of Texas
all-stars. I didn't much enjoy the serious elements of
the storyline, but I did get a few laughs when ol'
Willie was onscreen working his usual good-humored,
laid-back magic.
The film has a few guilty pleasures:
- It was shot in and around Austin, which I consider
my adopted home town, and it features lots of local
color, like local BBQ joints and boot-scootin'.
- It was directed by Bill Bixby, mild-mannered Dr.
Banner himself.
- Joan Severance removes her clothing for a sex
scene.
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Our Grade:
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you
need to read the explanation,
because the grading is not linear. For example, by our
definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie.
There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive
system, this film is a:
C-
Whiel it has no special merit, it is a pleasant enough
way to pass the time if you're too stoned to find the
remote.
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