Painted Hero

Whatever magnetic appeal Dwight Yoakam might have in the country music arena doesn't translate to his dramatic turn in PAINTED HERO. Low charisma is just one of the strikes against this stroll through William Inge country--it also suffers from a poorly structured screenplay, soap-opera dialogue, and matter-of-fact direction fiercely at odds with the script's melodramatic revelations.

Content with his aimless life as a rodeo clown, former buckaroo star Virgil Kidder (Dwight Yoakam) grudgingly gives in to the pleading of rodeo impresario, Brownie (Bo Hopkins) to book Virgil into a hometown appearance. As Virgil suspects, his reception there is frosty. Former main ...