Cheap Honeysuckle Rose (Video) (Willie Nelson, Dyan Cannon) (Jerry Schatzberg) Price

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Customer Reviews of Honeysuckle Rose

A Definite Classic!
I saw it when I was a young fan, and now I'm an old fan, and I still love it! Classic country, classic Willie Nelson(when he actually sang the whole song, not syncopated short cuts!), classic somebody-done-somebody-wrong-song. <
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>Willie Nelson basically play himself in the movie, but also plays a typical country singer. His wife, Dyan Cannon, like they all are, is very supportive, but misses him like crazy when he's "on the road again". <
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>She tries to convince him to stay when he's home, and does a bang-up job scheduling his show dates when does go back out. He takes his lifelong friend and retired guitar player's (Slim Pickens)daughter (Amy Irving) back out with him, and they have an affair. <
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>I won't give the end away, but it does have a happy ending, as all classics do. Great music, great story, and great country! <
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>I sure hope they make a DVD out of this one, I'll pre-order it if they do!

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Dyan Cannon shines in wonderful backstage musical-romance
1980's "Honeysuckle Rose" is best known as the first film to star Willie Nelson, but its true shining star is Dyan Cannon, in a wonderful, atypically understated performance as Willie's loyal wife. <
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>Nelson stars as Buck Bonham, a Nelsonesque country singer who arrives home after an extended road tour to spend time with wife and former musical partner Viv (Cannon), who has retired to raise their preteen son Jamie (Joey Floyd). After an extended, and very well-filmed, family reunion sequence, Buck heads back out onto the road, except without his longtime lead guitarist Garland Ramsay (Slim Pickens), who himself is retiring to spend time with his wife (Priscilla Pointer). In his place, Viv talks Buck into taking Garland's daughter Lily (Amy Irving). Unfortunately, Buck and Lily get involved in an affair which threatens to destroy Buck's marriage, his relationship with Garland and his band, and Lily's relationship with her father, to say nothing of Viv. <
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>That's it for plot, but obviously the plot is not the main attraction here. The main attraction is the incredible musical talent of Willie Nelson and his "family" of musicians, whose performances take up nearly half the film's 120 minute running time. Some of the musical highlights include the film's theme, "On the Road Again," which was Oscar-nominated, along with Nelson and Cannon's duets on "Loving You is Easier" and "Uncloudy Skies." In fact, not only does Cannon deliver an outstanding performance as the wronged woman, she reveals a previously unknown singing talent, as does Irving. Pickens is also believable as a veteran picker, although all his guitar work was dubbed. <
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>Nelson is fine in the lead, but he's basically playing himself. However, this performance did led to several subsequent starring roles in the 1980's. Irving and Pickens are also very good as always, but Cannon is transcendant. Usually specializing in high-strung wierdos who seem to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, here she is beautifully understated, to the point she barely speaks above a whisper in some scenes. She is at her best after she learns of the affair, and reacts the way any wife would when betrayed by her husband and a girl she practically helped raise. The scene where she confronts the two during a concert is alone worth the price of the cassette. <
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>Director Jerry Schatzberg helms with a sure hand and he and his editors do a masterful job of melding the extensive concert scenes into the surrounding action and ensuring the film never lags for a moment. Incredibly, this film was adapted from the classic film "Intermezzo." Even more incredibly, it stands on its own as a fine film and excellent showcase for one of the greatest singer/songwriters this country has ever produced, as well as a fine character actress who has sadly been absent from the screen for far too long. <
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>A note: Since the film was not a box-office success, it was retitled "On the Road Again" for its TV showings to remind viewers of its most famous asset. That is why the onscreen title on the VHS tape reads: "Honeysuckle Rose, aka On the Road Again." As for the tape, it is in a pan-and-scan fullscreen format which ruins the effect of its many concert sequences, which were (along with the film) filmed in panavision 2:35:1. Attn Warner Home Video: this film begs for a widescreen DVD transfer, so please, please, please release it for true fans to savor. **** (out of *****)

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What's Not to Like?
One of the feel-good movies of the 80s, "Honeysuckle Rose" wears well. Willie Nelson plays Buck Bonham, a country superstar (surprise!) who's about to go out on tour when he loses a key member of the band. No problem. Buck's loyal, loving wife (Dyan Cannon), herself a former superstar and now Buck's business manager, books the young, attractive, and professionally untried daughter of a longtime family friend (Slim Pickens) to temporarily join the tour until a seasoned replacement can be found. It turns out the girl (Amy Irving, young, sexy, and beautiful) can really belt out a tune. And that's not all.

Before you can say "broken heart," Buck and the girl are in bed together, and their mutual passion is there for all to see as they sing together on stage (by the way, Irving has one heck of a voice, and her duets with Nelson are sweet and lovely). How long will it take for the Missus to find out?

Despite the open disapproval of his band members and country friends such as Amy Harris (who has a couple of solos as well), Buck continues the dangerous affair--until somebody tips off his wife and she appears unexpectedly at one of the concert venues. There ensues a great deal of melodrama, most of it played out in song, like the classic "You Were Always On My Mind." Unfortunately, Cannon, who is supposed to be a country great in this movie, sings as well, and her flat, untrained and grating voice is just awful.

The plot sidesteps into a silly trip to Mexico with Slim Pickens, the outraged father and friend, during which Bonham comes to his senses. All works out just fine in the end, and the viewer ends up smiling, humming country songs, and rewinding the tape to start it up all over again.