Review of Tex

In her review for the New Yorker, film critic Pauline Kael quipped that the young actor Matt Dillon who stars in "Tex" possessed an extraordinarily natural grasp of acting. This may be true, although another comment from Kael--that Dillon had never played a role like this before--isn't altogether accurate. Tex McCormick is a rascally, down-home country kid, an Oklahoma high school student struggling to stay out of trouble after he and his brother are abandoned by their father, and the role feels like an expansion of Dillon's character from 1980's "Little Darlings". There are no surprises from this up-and-coming star, no revelations, and not a trace of personal substance on display. Dillon falls for the daughter of self-righteous Ben Johnson, who seemingly always plays self-righteous (no surprises from him, either). Johnson's way of acting is to pontificate clearly, as if he were making a speech in the town hall. This Disney drama, taken from S.E. Hinton's novel, is rather slow and fuzzy--and after an hour, the audience is still waiting for the plot to take shape. The rural locations are capably captured, but the drama inherent in the story of these two brothers lays flat. *1/2 from ****