Last Night at the Alamo

The Alamo is a seedy, smoke-filled bar in contemporary Houston, populated by proud, foul-mouthed Texans hell-bent on defending their favourite haunt against demolition. All hopes focus on rough, tough Cowboy (Davis), a braggart hero concealing his balding pate beneath a ten-gallon hat and his fear of impotence beneath boasts of high connections in the state capital. Pennell's razor-sharp black comedy overcomes its low budget and limited locations by means of marvellous monochrome camerawork and a vivid, ironic script by Kim Henkel (who co-wrote the similarly dark and delirious Texas Chain Saw Massacre) to produce a caustic commentary on filmic myths and male foibles ('A man's gotta do...'). Yet the colourful collection of no-hope good ole boys are never reduced to mere cardboard to be satirised; through excellent performances, our emotions are enlisted for these beautiful losers, boozing and brawling their way towards a final violent conflict that would touch the heart of John Ford himself.