The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia (1981) by director Ronald F. Maxwell is an amusing little comedy/drama that most definitely has its moments; it concerns a brother and sister and their attempts to make it big in country music. This film is more for fans of Kristy McNichol than anything else, it is funny at times but unfortunately many of its dramatic scenes spoil what should have been a cute little comedy.

Amanda (Kristy McNichol) and Travis Child (Dennis Quaid) are brother and sister. Travis is the talented singer/songwriter while his little sister is his road manager doing her best to keep her big brother out of trouble, which he seems to find around every corner. While trying to make their way to Nashville "to make it big" Travis gets in hot water with the local police of a small Georgia town. To keep his brother out of jail Amanda arranges for him to work at a local bar to pay off his debt so they can both get back on the road again. While in town Travis begins falling in love with a local girl, a girl that happens to be the obsession of the crooked town deputy (Don Stroud) that arrested him in the first place.

This movie belongs to an interesting sub-genre of movies, movies based on a popular song. Sometimes all that you need to do to have a big hit film is to connect it to a big hit song (or so the theory goes). This movie is loosely (and I do mean loosely) based on the hit single by Vicki Lawrence from almost ten years earlier. If you happen to know the lyrics of the song then you also know that this film has nearly nothing to do with that 1970's country music hit. Kristy McNichol does her usual excellent work but unfortunately this material really holds her back. McNichol's charm and sparkling personality can't save this movie; it is however the only thing that keeps the film from floundering completely. The film's creators couldn't decide whether they wanted a light-hearted comedy or something with more dramatic overtones, what we get is this jumbled, confused mess. Had the film's makers kept this as a light-hearted comedy with some interesting country music performances they would have made a much more satisfying film. Unfortunately for them and us, the viewing audience, their attempts to "get serious" as well as a heavy-handed ending (apparently only added to give Kristy a chance to cry) have only made this film a lot less enjoyable. All of the other actors involved do a good job with the material they have been given, the only exception being Mark Hamill who seems slightly miscast and unconvincing as a nice guy Highway Patrolman that eventually becomes McNichol's love interest. Don Stroud plays his usual bastard character part, this time with a badge; did he ever play a nice guy? There are also several good songs including some by Kristy herself that most any country music fan would enjoy. Regrettably, we'll all have to wonder how much better this film could have been had the makers decided to play up the comedy and left more of the drama on the cutting room floor; I don't guess we will ever really know.

Buying note: Although it is now out of print this film was available on full screen VHS tape for many years and can still be found occasionally. There are also several companies on the internet selling DVD-R copies of this movie; it is also full screen and simply looks to be the VHS print that someone has transferred onto DVD. Please note that this DVD has no special features and has no better picture or sound quality than the VHS tape.

12-5-2005