The Whole Shootin’ Match
1978, NR, 101 min.
Directed by Eagle Pennell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Lou Perryman, Sonny Carl Davis, Doris Hargrave.

This debut film by Eagle Pennell, the Texas filmmaker who died last month, was made back in the years before making movies in Texas was considered cool. This slice-of-life comedy focuses on two over-the-hill dreamers. The film made quite a splash in the burgeoning independent film world, winning praise from the hard-to-please critic Vincent Canby and actor Robert Redford, who found inspiration in this film that confirmed he was on the right track in founding the Sundance Institute. (See reminiscences about Eagle Pennell in our memorial tribute to his life and career.)

This article appears in August 23 • 2002.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.