Best Friends

Misleading poster/cover which said "a century of revenge" with native Americans lurking in the background. Instead those natives are barely in the movie, though I was wondering when they would show up again, maybe to unite the friends as a common enemy. Nice easygoing road trip was more enjoyable than creepy vet. Fav scene: Jo Ella dancing naked on the barstool and the actual performer being pissed off because who wouldn't be? I'm trying to work here!

There's an enjoyable easy-going vibe early on, but the film becomes progressively grim. Mildly exploitative but not too trashy, and it's really a pretty good little flick.

Viewed January 9, 2022. A low-budget drama about two Vietnam veterans whose friendship is strained during a tense road trip with their girlfriends. I admire the ambition on display here - the way the movie suggests exploitation without ever going fully into it, and especially the homoerotic undertone of jealousy that drives the story forward. The drifting, alienating road trip vibe is very well-done, although it tends to falter whenever it goes beyond that into bigger dramatic moments.

This has been marketed as an exploitation film which is bullshit, but it’s a surprisingly good psychological drama/suspense film about two vietnam vets and their girlfriends. It’s competently made and I was on board this road trip even if they took their time with building the suspense. The homosexual undertone is clear and quite daring for it’s time. Actors were fine and it was nice to see Hatch in a film like this as I only knew him from Galactica.

Bad acting, bad writing, bad characters, a predictable & agonizingly slow plot. The best performance here is Doug Chapin as an unhinged army vet who's a bit too attached to his best pal, but the rest are pretty unremarkable. Not a lot really happens, either, which doesn't help the pacing one bit. It's too tame to be an effective exploitation movie & not clever enough to be a good psychological thriller. The script is comically lazy & often nonsensical. Ultimately, there's no reason to see this.