Any film which depicts the murder of country and western singers can’t be all that bad.

A good reason why Country and Western sucks...

In fact, I hope they make a sequel. It could show the Dixie Chicks being locked in a ute and getting torched with flamethrowers, and the gutting of the person who allowed Kasey Chambers to record that God-awful screeching cover of True Colors. After those two, I declare it open season on anyone in a hat. Sure, fans of the style may be a little miffed at my comments, but really you have to admit that the music sucks, the people wear stupid hats, and there are only so many times can you write about your woman leaving you for a truckin’ man and his monkey called Bear. Load your weapons people, we got good ol’ country folk to hunt!

Hmm, a good reason why maybe Country and Western doesn't suck after all...

There is murder and accidental death-a-plenty in this silly, yet enjoyably easy going, romp about a wannabe country singer who gets involved with a slutty tramp country singer. Just when he thinks his shitty life with his shitty wife and their shitty hotel in the middle of nowhere could be a thing of the past and his luck might be turning, people start to die. It’s a minor road bump at first, he deals with it well, even having sex next to the impromptu grave of his freshly shot wife. And people say that marriage doesn’t mean anything anymore. But then it happens again, and people start asking questions, you know the drill.

It’s a well worn road in movies and in life. Life sucks, you meet a tramp, have great sex then your dog suddenly dies. We’ve all been there and done that. The moral of the story is: don’t buy a dog.

The film is okay. Nothing special enough to rush out and rent right now, but then not something you have to avoid if your video library is all out of the latest George Clooney/Steven Soderbergh lovefest either.

There’s nothing to fault picture-wise. It’s perfectly clean, it’s very clear without too much grain (though it is a bit more visible in the darker shots) or other probs you might not like, and the colouring is nice. Set out in the desert, it surprising doesn’t make too much use of lingering landscape shots, which for a change is a good thing, instead settling on lots of interiors and shots just around the motel itself. It holds itself up well, and ranks comfortably alongside some of the better 'never heard of it' titles I’ve seen of late.

But they could have given this more than just a stereo mix. Then again, I didn’t pay to make the film, did I? A little ambient noise and some better directional effects would have been good, but looking on the bright side, it sounds very clear, if a little simple. The music sounds a little more open than the rest of the film, like it has a little more headroom, but otherwise this is fine with nothing to detract from it or attract rave reviews.

Frankly I’m surprised there’s even a trailer for this film on this DVD, which makes up the sole extra to be found here.