Support Groups Movie Reviews

Related Subjects: Society Codependency Rape
Family movie reviews for "Support Groups" sorted by average review score:
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Released in DVD by MGM/UA Video (20 March, 2001)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Director: Burt Kennedy
Starring: James Garner and Suzanne Pleshette
James Garner returns for this pseudosequel to Support Your Local Sheriff, this time as a gigolo con man mistaken for a legendary killer. Escaping matrimonial entanglements, he lands in the town of Purgatory in the midst of a raging war between gold miners racing for the mother lode. In a play right out of Maverick, he quickly casts drifter Jack Elam into the gunfighter role and names himself the man's agent, selling his services to the highest bidder and pocketing a sizable commission. Garner double-talks his way through one deal after another with a wink and a smile while Elam growls and swaggers and rolls his eyes, playacting the role of the cold-blooded gunslinger like a wild-eyed clown. Suzanne Pleshette shoots up the town as Garner's romantic interest, a tomboy in buckskin with an itchy trigger finger and lousy aim, and Chuck Conners walks tall as the real bald-as-a-billiard-ball killer. Apart from the tongue-in-cheek tone and returning cast members (Elam, Harry Morgan, Henry Jones, and Gene Evans are among the familiar faces joining Garner), the film has little in common with Sheriff and never quite recaptures the clever twists and low-key hilarity, but this is a cast who knows how to deliver a gag, and Kennedy's laid-back direction keeps an even, affectionately spoofing tone throughout. --Sean Axmaker
Average review score:

A classic Western spoof
This is the sequel to the outrageously funny Support Your Local Sheriff. In this film, James Garner plays the con-man Latigo Smith, a man with a passion for foolish bets at the Roulette table and who has just ditched his boisterous fiancee. As far as Smith knows, his biggest problem is getting the tattoo of her name off his chest, but things quickly become more complicated for him when he loses all his money and decides to help a local cowhand (Jack Elam) impersonate a famous gunfighter. Hilarity ensues as the scheme is found out and Smith has to concoct plan after plan to cover himself.

Many members of the comedy troupe from Support Your Local Sheriff are in this movie. Besides Garner and Elam, the very funny Harry Morgan stars, again, as a mining tycoon. Suzanne Pleshette is the love interest this time, and stars as Patience, a half-crazy tomboy whose name is ill-deserved and who is a lousy aim with a gun (fortunately for Smith). This movie never quite reaches the comic peak of the prequel, mostly because the former movie touched on so many of the contemporary Hollywood cliches and seemed a fitting parody of the sheriff common in most of those films. Still, this is a funny movie, a fitting sequel. Watch them both--you won't be disappointed.

My Favorite Garner movie of all time
Boy this was hard, ranking my Favorite James Garner movies. It came down to the two Support your... movies. I had to good with the one that had the sidewinder, Susan Plesette and the X-Rifleman and Cub second baseman Swifty Morgan.

SYLSheriff came in second because he was just passin thru on his way to australia anyway.

A classic comedy
This film is better then "Support your Local Sheriff". The comedy is better and snappier, and the plot is far better. The other film is so full of cliches, it loses it's luster pretty quick. If you enjoy classic films, or comedy, you will love this film. IMO, you can live without "Support your Local Sheriff".

Support Your Local Sheriff
Released in DVD by MGM/UA Video (20 March, 2001)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Director: Burt Kennedy
Starring: James Garner, Joan Hackett, and Walter Brennan
While hardly the first Western spoof to ride out of Hollywood, Support Your Local Sheriff is easily one of the best. James Garner plays the confident, cool-headed cowboy who strolls into a wild gold rush town on the way to Australia and takes the job as sheriff. Like a parody of My Darling Clementine by way of Rio Bravo, he arrests the hotheaded but hopelessly confused son (Bruce Dern) of a ruthless ranching magnate (Walter Brennan). Stuck with a half-built jail (where he keeps his prisoner penned up with pure psychology and a few spatters of red paint), a rummy sidekick (google-eyed Jack Elam in one of his first comic turns), and a disaster-prone tomboy (Joan Hackett), he takes on a succession of gunfighters with increasing exasperation. "Sure is a childish way for a grown man to make a living," he laments before chasing one gunman out of Dodge by pelting him with rocks. Directed with laconic ease by veteran Western director Burt Kennedy, it's a clever spoof of familiar conventions in a lighthearted vein, more understated and affectionate than Mel Brooks's outrageous farce Blazing Saddles. It inspired a slew of imitators, including a decade of silly Disney Westerns that sank the genre in slapstick shenanigans, and was followed in 1971 by Kennedy's pseudosequel Support Your Local Gunfighter, which reteamed Garner and Elam in a more mercenary story of con artists and gunslingers. --Sean Axmaker
Average review score:

Taming the Wild West
James Garner stars as Jason McCullough in this hilarious Western spoof. This was the era of John Wayne westerns, and this movie came about at just about the right time to make fun of the western and what it had become, often scarcely more than a cookie-cutter production with a predictable plot, scowling gunfighters, and the same basic storyline. McCullough is a wandering frontiersman on his way to Australia, and happens upon a small mining town which has sprung up overnight and become too big for its laws. He decides to earn a little extra money before moving on, and takes a job as the sheriff of the town. Consequently he's forced to deal with the Danby bunch, a rancher family who's swindling and intimidating the mine owners. Between dealing with the Danbys (headed by the very funny Walter Brennan), trying to keep his prisoners in a jail with no bars, and fighting off the advances of the hapless mayor's daughter, McCullough has his hands full.

Garner is great in his role as the opportunistic, but effective, sheriff. Jack Elam co-stars as his deputy, and the antics of this pair are enough to keep anyone entertained throughout the movie. Anyone familiar with Westerns from this era will appreciate the humor of this parody on Hollywood's Wild West.

"JUST ON MY WAY TO AUSTRALIA"
IS THERE ANY THING FUNNIER THAN A STRAIGHT FACED MAN SPEWING OUT HUMOR? AND JAMES GARNER HAS A TREMENDOUS GIFT FOR BEING HILARIOUS
AND YET DOING IT IN A SEEMINGLY EFFORTLESS WAY.
BEFORE 'RAISING ARIZONA' OR 'OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?' THIS LITTLE PICTURE BROKE GROUND WITH DRY, OFF BEAT AND SOMETIMES CYNICAL COMEDY.

GARNER PLAYS THE ANTI HERO TO THE HILT. HE IS A SIMPLE MAN WHO IS BASICLY "JUST ON HIS WAY TO AUSTRALIA." HE FINDS HIMSELF IN A QUIRKY 'GOLD STRIKE' TOWN THAT IS DESPERATELY IN NEED OF A SHERIFF.
HIS QUALIFICATIONS "FIT THE JOB PERFECTLY" AND THE BASIC PLOT IS SET.
GARNER IS SUPERBLY SUPPORTED BY VETERAN CHARACTER ACTORS LIKE JACK ELAM, BRUCE DERN AND A HOST OF WELL KNOWN OTHERS.

THE WONDERFULLY WRITTEN DIALOGUE IS THE ABSOLUTE STAR OF THE SHOW WITH NUMEROUS MEMORABLE LINES THROUGHOUT THE PICTURE.
WHEN THE SPINELESS MAYOR SHOWS GARNER HIS HOME HE MENTIONS HIS 'DEAR DEPARTED WIFE' TO WHICH GARNER SAYS "YOUR WIFE DIED HUH?" AND THE MAYOR RESPONDS "NO....JUST DEPARTED."

THE SIDESPLITTING SCENES ARE REALLY TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION AS THERE ARE SO MANY STAND OUTS.

THIS MAY WELL BE THE BEST FAMILY COMEDIC WESTERN PIECE DONE TO DATE. RIVAL FILMS LIKE 'BLAZING SADDLES' WITH THEIR PROFANE ENUENDOS
PALE TERRIBLY IN COMPARISON TO THIS EFFORT.

THIS IS ONE YOU CAN WATCH REPEATEDLY AND LAUGH JUST AS LOUD EACH TIME.

My 2nd favorite Garner movie of all time
Boy this was hard, ranking my Favorite James Garner movies. It came down to the two Support your... movies. I had to go with the one that had the sidewinder, Susan Plesette and the X-Rifleman and Cub second baseman Swifty Morgan.

SYLSheriff came in second because he was just passin thru on his way to australia anyway.

Support Your Local Gunfighter/Support Your Local Sheriff
Released in DVD by M G M, Inc (07 May, 2002)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Director: Burt Kennedy
Starring: James Garner and Suzanne Pleshette
Average review score:

Two great films. But.
These two films are as good as it gets when it comes to comedy westerns. The only problem is the colors on Support Your Local Sheriff are somewhat faded and too red. The print is clear without any scratches or other defects. It's just that the colors haven't aged well. I watched it on several sources so it isn't just the color being off on a particular TV. I still found it quite watchable. It was at most a minor annoyance.

You can not watch just one
*** Support Your local Sheriff ***

60 for who and 40 for who?

Down through time it is easy to get the "support your local" films mixed up. This is the first. This is an educational film teaching you everything from sharing to proper gun pointing etiquette. Everyone has his or her favorite part in this movie. It contains sight gages and puns and jokes (some take time to think about.)

I will not go into detail incase you have not seen this as it is fun to watch the story unfold. However it is several overlapping stories tied together by Jason McCullough (James Garner) who has spent four years on his way to Australia and stops for a little gold prospecting. He needs a job to buy food while prospecting, as the position of sheriff is available.

O.K. I can not help it. He is handed the badge with a dent from a bullet in it.

James Garner: This must have saved his life.

Harry Morgan: It would have, if it weren't for all those other bullets.

This movie may not have all the DVD goodies you look for but it is DVD so it will last as long as the technology.

*** Support Your Local Gunfighter ***

"Have you seen Elmer?"

Latigo Smith (James Garner) barely escapes marital bliss with Goldie, to find himself in a situation with out money but a golden opportunity. The town he as escaped to (Purgatory) has rival mining companies digging for the motherload. Latigo teams up with Jug May (Jack Elam) who poses as Swifty Morgan, hired gun. Latigo is his agent and handles all the money.

The fun in this movie is the interaction of the characters much more than the story. One thing that struck me as funny is the scene where Col. Ames is stretching over in his stiff boots to see if Taylor Barton (Harry Morgan) is hiding under his sister's bead. Another is when Jug sees Latigo asking a woman for money, he says that he was brought up not to ask women for money. Latigo suggest that is because a woman raised him.

Who will get the load and who will get the shaft? Will the real Swifty show up? What about Goldie?

Support Your Local James Garner Fan!!!!
James Garner turns in a great performance in this pair of western spoofs, although not related to his popular Maverick role both films are similar in their comic style and Garner is just as crafty as his Bret Maverick character. In Support Your Local Sheriff, Garner is a slick drifter who accepts the job of sheriff in a small Colorado town and uses his wits and quick draw to clean up the town and win the heart of a beautiful yet clumsy lady. In Support Your Local Gunfighter, Garner is a kept man with a bad habit of losing money to the roulette wheel. He then uses another drifter to pretend to be a famous gunfighter in a scheme to make some quick money. Yet when the real gunfighter shows up it is up to Garner to save the day. The two films are quite similar and are companion films with many of the same actors and a similar plot involving a sly stranger who is able to win over the town and a lovely lady with his charm and ability to out think his opponent. I bought this combo pack for a great price; both films are very funny and are classic western spoofs along the lines of Blazing Saddles only G Rated. A great buy for any fan of James Garner or Westerns in general. Just make sure you get both films in this neat combo and save a few bucks while your at it.

Related Subjects: Society Codependency Rape