James Coburn stars in and dominates The Honkers the story of a veteran rodeo cowboy who really ought to settle down with his wife Lois Nettleton and son Teddy Eccles. But Coburn likes the life too much especially the partying and those rodeo bunnies. Something about those bowlegged cowboys gets to them I guess.
So Coburn makes one of his many pit stops at his home and he and Nettleton have their usual argument about that final divorce decree he won' t sign so she can marry steady and reliable Richard Anderson who has a used car dealership. But there's a nearby rodeo so he and best friend Slim Pickens who is a rodeo clown are off to it.
The Honkers takes an honored place beside such rodeo films as The Lusty Men and Junior Bonner. Steve Ihnat really captures the ambiance and feel of the rodeo as an American institution.
Before he went into films Slim Pickens was a rodeo clown and this is the only film he actually gets to play one. Like his buddy Coburn this is the life he knows though he's not the party animal that Coburn is. I guess someone has to be the designated driver and it seems to have fallen to Slim to be that for Coburn in all situations. Being a clown requires the same kind of reflexes it does when riding a bull or a bucking horse. Slim too has slowed up a might.
Anne Archer makes her film debut as a rodeo bunny whose father is a big oil millionaire. As a kind of Indian rodeo hippie, Archer makes a fine debut in The Honkers.
I did like the ending which was most vague and you have to decide for yourself what the future holds for Coburn. This one is really worth checking out.
