Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 18, 2015

Mark L. Lester, the director of “Truck Stop Women,” returns the drive-in circuit with 1976’s “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw,” which invests fully in violence and sex to help attract an audience. An updated take on western formula, the feature is a wily offering of exploitation cinema, resting somewhere between a sobering exploration of American violence and a broad sampling of bare breasts and gunplay, with Lester unsure exactly where he wants to land with this effort. Playing into era-specific appetites with crashing cars and stunning women, “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw” satisfies with the basics, collecting enough extremity to entertain as intended. Anything thematically deeper tends to dissolve in Lester’s hands.

Lyle Wheeler (Marjoe Gortner) is a young man trying to define his dreams, with his idolization of Billy the Kid clouding his moral core. A fast-draw expert and seasoned thief, Lyle lifts a fancy automobile in the middle of New Mexico and proceeds to search for adventure in small towns. Discovering statuesque Bobbie Jo (Lynda Carter) at a drive-in, Lyle sets out to charm the troubled young woman, offering her a ride away from the tight religious confines of her home. Taking off together, Lyle and Bobbie Jo begin to bond, sharing career ambitions and assorted intimacies, quickly becoming a couple. When Lyle finally comes clean about his criminal instincts, Bobbie Jo isn’t bothered, with the pair crossing the state robbing banks and causing trouble, eventually making room for pal Essie (Belinda Balaski), embarking on a journey of drugs, death, and sex that attracts attention from Sheriff Hicks (Gene Drew), who’s determined to capture the group.

The helmer of “Class of 1984” and “Commando,” Lester knows a thing or two about provocative entertainment, with “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw” an early offering that solidifies his interest in broad tales of bad behavior. Armed with a limited budget but a clear idea of his target demographic, Lester (working with a script by Vernon Zimmerman) arranges an update of the “Bonnie and Clyde” formula, constructing a tale of love and bullets where Lyle, the sly but venomous outsider, cozies up to Bobbie Jo, an impressionable woman who takes to such defined masculinity, falling in love with the bad boy. Chemistry between Carter and Gortner isn’t completely there, but the production is persistent when it comes to bringing the two characters together, arranging for a few awkward sex scenes in the great outdoors. Of course, Bobbie Jo isn’t one to protest her monster of a lover, even joining the criminal scheme once she gets to sample weaponry and the cheap thrills that arrive when on the run from the law.

“Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw” is simple when it chooses to be, showcasing scrappy stunt work as Lyle engages local law enforcement with aggression, leading them on a few car chases that typically end with property destruction and explosions. There are a few robbery sequences as well, with the trio joined by Bobbie Jo’s stripper sister Pearl (Merrie Lynn Ross) and her wild card boyfriend Slick (Jesse Vint), who assist on jobs that require blunt force and machine guns. As double-bill escapism, “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw” plays best when it isn’t attempting to think, sticking to vague dreams of glory and raw encounters with cops and opportunists trying to collect reward money. The screenplay does make an effort to inflate importance with the introduction of a wild west book that Lyle carries around, inspired by outlaw tales and their inevitable conclusions. It’s a bit of a reach to add any type of significance to a movie that’s most interested in photographing Carter out of her clothes (a visual event that’s surely worth a purchase for many readers out there), but Lester and Zimmerman try. Not successfully, but they try.

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation retains the drive-in mood of the production, preserving its dingy cinematography with a filmic feel, managing grain to satisfaction. Colors are also encouraging, with a secure handle on primaries explored through costuming and small town signage. Skintones are natural. Detail remains in step with fluctuating levels of inherent cinematographic softness, though sharpness is available to explore facial particulars, locations, and the limits of special effects. Delineation is comfortable, preserving evening encounters and distances. Source is a bit ratty at times, with scratches and speckling swarming the image, but it's not problematic, possibly even sweetening the viewing experience for B- movie fans.

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix experiences a long battle with aged elements, offering a thin, crispy track that reflects its low-budget origin, but often tests the limits of unintelligibility. Dialogue exchanges aren't defined to satisfaction, but they handle dramatic efforts passably, capturing a range of accents and intensity as trouble brews for the outlaws. Soundtrack selections are agreeable but lack fullness, with decent instrumentation. Atmospherics are thick, along with sound effects, finding explosions and gunfire loud, overwhelming sonic limitations.

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Mark L. Lester.

• Interview (11:56, HD) with Lester recounts the strange experience of financing "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw" from a single investor, permitting him creative freedom. Talk of casting is hilarious, with Lester passing on Sylvester Stallone for the lead role, using the future icon as a negotiation tactic to lure Marjoe Gortner. Lester also brings up Lynda Carter's eventual rejection of her nude scenes, claiming she was fine with toplessness at the time. Locations are recalled, and the subject shares an amusing anecdote about Martin Scorsese, as "Taxi Driver" opened in theaters the same week as "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw."

• Interview (16:35, HD) with Merrie Lynn Ross covers production challenges, finding the actress claiming a producer role after locating financing for the film. Talk of co-stars is mostly pleasant, but some tensions are recalled concerning Carter's competitive ways. Ross also discusses her current career as a child advocate, sharing information about a book she authored about conflict resolution.

• Interview (11:21, HD) with Belinda Balaski explores the actress's extensive character work, with a recent find of the shooting script revealing massive notes detailing Essie's emotional arc. Balaski also chats up her co-stars, with special reverence saved for Gortner, who "held the set together" with his creative drive.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:52, HD) is included.

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw" plays like a "Dukes of Hazzard" episode, with smashing cars and stymied cops. It eventually becomes a manhunt movie once Sheriff Hicks becomes obsessed with bringing down Lyle and his gang, which carries to a rather severe conclusion, with Lester trying to find appropriate punctuation to match the brute's idolatry of western figures. "Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw" is far more engaging as a feisty ride of bad behavior, visiting poor decisions, a psychedelic mushroom experience with Native Americans, and pinball gambling with sketchy locals. Anything more serious than that tends to fall flat.