Dudes (1987) The Vista Organization/Action-Adventure-Comedy-Western RT: 90 minutes Rated R (language, violence, drug material) Director: Penelope Spheeris Screenplay: Randall Jahnson Music: Charles Bernstein Cinematography: Robert Richardson Release date: September 1987 (US) Cast: Jon Cryer, Daniel Roebuck, Catherine Mary Stewart, Flea, Lee Ving, Billy Ray Sharkey, Glenn Withrow, Michael Melvin, Marc Rude, Calvin Bartlett, Pete Willcox, Pamela Gidley. Box Office: N/A
Rating: *** ½
I forgot how much I enjoyed Dudes, a punk rock version of Easy Rider that turns into a revenge flick with Western stylings. It didn’t open in any theaters in the Philadelphia area in fall ’87 so I didn’t get to see it until about a year later when I rented it on video. It would have been cool to see it at a theater though. It was made to play in small, independently-owned downtown theaters on a double feature with Repo Man or some such movie. Sadly, such movie havens no longer exist. I really miss them.
It took a while, but Dudes is finally available on Blu-Ray. What a great way to see it. But there’s something to be said for watching 80s movies on VHS. It was cool to go into a Mom & Pop video store (or West Coast Video) and peruse the boxes on the shelves, taking in the box art as I made my selections. For me, finding a movie I didn’t see in theaters was a successful visit. Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when I didn’t see every movie that played in cinemas. I had school and a part-time job. Sometimes I even had a social life. VCRs were a godsend. What I missed in theaters, I could watch at home about six months later. Man, those were the days!
Okay, enough reminiscing. Let’s talk about Dudes. It stars Jon Cryer (Pretty in Pink) and Daniel Roebuck (River’s Edge) as Grant and Biscuit, a pair of New York punk rockers who, at the urging of their friend Milo (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), decide to move to California. The three jump into a blue Volkswagen bug and head west. While camping overnight in the Utah desert, they encounter a gang of vicious redneck thugs led by Missoula (Ving, Black Moon Rising) who rob and terrorize them before killing Milo. Local law enforcement can’t do much of anything except file a report (no body, no crime). When Grant protests, they order them to leave town or go to jail. Always one to defy authority, Grant decides to take matters into his own hands and hunt down the gang himself. It takes a bit of persuading but Biscuit agrees to join his friend in his quest for justice.
The guys get help from Jessie (Stewart, Night of the Comet), a mechanic who owns her own tow truck. After they wreck their car while chasing Missoula, she lets them stay at her place. It’s there that Grant learns how to shoot a gun and Biscuit has a spiritual awakening of sorts. When the pair resumes their mission, Grant is dressed as a cowboy and Biscuit as a Native American replete with bow and arrow. Also, there’s this mysterious cowboy (Bartlett, Best of the Best) who keeps appearing at just the right times to point our heroes in the right direction on their physical and spiritual journeys. He may or may not be real.
Dudes is the height of 80s punk rock cool. At the time, there were two directors who had a firm grasp on punk culture. One was Alex Cox who did Repo Man and the biopic Sid & Nancy. The other was Penelope Spheeris who made all three Decline of Western Civilization documentaries and the little-seen 1983 drama Suburbia about a runaway teen who falls in with a group of young punks. She’s the one behind Dudes and it’s a very comfortable fit. Spheeris takes it to the next level by dropping her punk anti-heroes into a western scenario. That is, after starting things off with her take on Easy Rider. We have three guys exploring America and constantly running into trouble because of their appearance. Instead of long-haired hippies, they’re spiky-haired punk rockers. Honestly, I think Dudes is brilliant.
Dudes is cast very well. For many, it was difficult to see Cryer as anybody other than geeky Ducky from the John Hughes teen romance Pretty in Pink. He made Dudes the same year he also starred in Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home and Hiding Out in which he sports the fakest looking beard this side of a discount Halloween store. He was just staring to transition into more adult roles. He does okay as Grant although he doesn’t successfully convey the anger one expects from a punk rocker. I just wasn’t feeling it; he’s too likable an actor. That, of course, would be something other critics might point out. Not me! I liked Cryer in the lead. Moreover, I liked that he was likable. He and Roebuck, who also does a good job, have nice chemistry. The whole cast is good. Ving makes a great villain; he excels at playing loathsome characters. Stewart looks like she’s having fun as Grant’s love interest who, at one point, helps him and Biscuit break out of jail in a manner we’ve seen in many an old western.
My favorite supporting character in Dudes is this Elvis impersonator (professional Elvis impersonator Willcox) the guys meet on the road. He’s a Renaissance man with many skills, all of which are listed on the business card he hands them after they render roadside assistance with his trailer. They meet up again later at a rodeo where he helps the guys catch one of the gang members (Withrow, The Outsiders). Dudes has a few good action scenes and a great soundtrack that includes cuts from Keel (“Rock and Roll Outlaw”), Jane’s Addiction (“Mountain Song”), Faster Pussycat (“Number Off the Bathroom Wall”) and W.A.S.P. (“Show No Mercy”). It has a few funny moments and a cool shootout in a movie theater showing 1939’s Jesse James starring Tyrone Power. Nice choice of movie, Penelope.
In my not-so-humble opinion, Dudes is one of the coolest underappreciated flicks of the 80s. I just love what Spheeris does with a story that might have been a routine revenge flick in less-assured hands. She has the moxie to try something different that could have gone horribly wrong (but doesn’t). I admire that about her. I wish they still made movies like Dudes. Nowadays, filmmaking is more of a business than an art form. Studios just turn out product. And it’s all about the major studios. There’s no room at the multiplexes for the little guy. Not all progress is good. Oh, am I reminiscing again? Sorry. I just can’t help myself when it comes to the subject of movies. Dudes may not be regarded as a film classic by the mainstream, but I think it’s awesome.
