Iowa farm boy Lewis Tater (Jeff Bridges) is an aspiring western writer. Despite being laughed at by his brothers, he travels to Nevada to join a mail correspondence school. He is strictly a naive farmer who discovers that buffalo don't run anymore and the university is simply post office boxes. While staying at a local hotel, he gets attacked by one of the con man. He escapes by stealing the head con man's car. After running out of gas, he finds a tool box with a gun and runs into the desert night. With the two con men following, he stumbles upon a real western film crew. He joins them as they head back to Hollywood. He befriends old hand Howard Pike (Andy Griffith) and script girl Miss Trout (Blythe Danner). Bert Kessler (Alan Arkin) hires him first as a stunt man and then gives him lines. All the while, he is paid as little as possible.
This has a bit of fun at times although Lewis' cluelessness really bothered me. He is smart enough to write stories but so stupid in so many ways. There is a difference between being naive and being a moron. He keeps crossing the line. He cannot be too stupid to write well. One way to solve it would be to make him an aspiring actor rather than an aspiring writer. Bridges is an appealing lead and he can definitely play clueless. He is The Dude. Overall, I like the characters and I generally like the screwball comedy nature of the film.
This has a bit of fun at times although Lewis' cluelessness really bothered me. He is smart enough to write stories but so stupid in so many ways. There is a difference between being naive and being a moron. He keeps crossing the line. He cannot be too stupid to write well. One way to solve it would be to make him an aspiring actor rather than an aspiring writer. Bridges is an appealing lead and he can definitely play clueless. He is The Dude. Overall, I like the characters and I generally like the screwball comedy nature of the film.