Erwin finds himself stranded in Texas, where he’s taken under the wing of a nearly bankrupt oil driller, Merle. They set off on a wild adventure to outwit a corrupt oil company to hit pay dirt before Merle’s dreams are foreclosed.
Erwin Vandeveer (Rudy Pankow) is an LA actor who has just gotten his big break in a feature film and has arrived in New Orleans to shoot his scene. After being told multiple times to shut off his phone, he forgets, and just as they are about to shoot, his phone rings, ruining the scene (hilariously, I might add). Suffice it to say, he is fired and begins the long trek back to LA.
In Texas, his car breaks down in the small town of Buffalo Gap, and he makes his way to a small diner where he meets Faye (Carrie-Anne Moss), the diner’s owner, and oil driller Merle Luskey (Thomas Haden Church). When Merle learns Erwin is an actor, he formulates a plan, telling him that he will fix his car for free if he agrees to help him. Without thinking and with no funds, he agrees and quickly learns that Merle is almost bankrupt and his rig is about to be foreclosed on by the bank. For Merle to keep his rig, Erwin must pretend to be an oil expert, intending to impede their seizure of his property while Merle finds a solution. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan.
When I saw the trailer for “Accidental Texan,” I knew exactly how the film would play out, and it didn’t disappoint. That’s not a bad thing; sometimes, you need a film that renews your faith in mankind, and “Accidental Texan” does precisely that. A young actor and a curmudgeonly older driller, who have both become despondent and lost their motivation, are both given a new lease of life because of their selflessness and generosity to each other.
Thomas Haden Church and Carrie-Anne Moss play their roles with vigor, while Rudy Pankow’s Erwin is intelligent, assertive, and talented, and when given the spotlight, can play whatever character he needs to get the job done. Watching him pretend to be a Texas oil man while chewing tobacco, something he has never done before has to be one of the funniest scenes in recent memory. Even Bruce Dern turns up in a cameo playing, well, himself, a cantankerous old man with no time for bullshit.
The film is predictable and conventional, but the strength of the performances carries it over the finish line. I was delighted to see it was shot entirely on location in Texas, as the town and surrounding locales add an authentic ambiance to the movie. Director Mark Lambert Bristol, in only his second feature film, delivers a heartwarming tale filled with likable and sympathetic characters and entertaining scenarios—a pleasant way to spend an evening.
In Theaters Friday, March 8th
