Tex (film)

Tex
Tex
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tim Hunter
Screenplay by	Charles S. Haas; Tim Hunter
Based on	Tex; by S. E. Hinton
Produced by	Tim Zinnemann; Ron Miller
Starring	Matt Dillon; Jim Metzler; Meg Tilly; Bill McKinney; Ben Johnson
Cinematography	Ric Waite
Edited by	Howard E. Smith
Music by	Pino Donaggio
Production; company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	July 30, 1982
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$7.4 million

Tex is a 1982 American drama film directed by Tim Hunter (his first film as a director) and written by Charles S. Haas. It is based on the novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton. Matt Dillon and Jim Metzler play brothers who struggle after their mother dies and their father walks out on them.

Tex is seen as one of the earliest efforts for Disney to put mature content in its movies and received positive reviews for its realism and its content.

Premise

A coming-of-age adventure about two brothers, Tex and Mason McCormick, struggling to make it on their own when their mother dies and their father leaves them in their Oklahoma home. Fifteen-year-old Tex McCormick and his 17-year-old brother Mason are trying to make it on their own in the absence of their rodeo-riding father. Mason takes over running the household and, to make ends meet, sells Tex’s beloved horse, Rowdy. Tex gets mad at Mason and heedlessly tumbles into scrape after scrape. When his Pop comes home, Tex is shocked to learn that he isn’t his real father. But Tex realizes that Mason and Pop do love him, and it is time to start growing up.

Cast

Matt Dillon as Texas "Tex" McCormick
Jim Metzler as Mason "Mace" McCormick
Meg Tilly as Jamie Collins
Bill McKinney as Pop McCormick
Frances Lee McCain as Mrs. Johnson
Ben Johnson as Cole Collins
Phil Brock as Lem Peters
Emilio Estevez as Johnny Collins
Tom Virtue as Robert “Bob” Collins
Jack Thibeau as Coach Jackson
Željko Ivanek as Hitchhiker Mark Jennings
Pamela Ludwig as Connie Peters
S.E. Hinton as Mrs. Barnes

Production

The film was rated "PG" rather than the "G" then customarily earned by Walt Disney Studios productions, and was noted as an early effort by Disney to incorporate more mature subject matter into its films. The film was somewhat edgy for Disney at the time for its scenes that depicted marijuana use as well as featuring a moderate amount of profanity. Tim Hunter, who had previously co-written the 1979 film Over the Edge with Charles Haas, brought the project to Disney and asked for the opportunity to direct it himself. The film was shot entirely on location in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma and its suburbs,^[3] the setting of the S. E. Hinton novel on which it is based.

Reception

Tex received mainly positive reviews from critics, and has an 85% "fresh" rating from the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 13 reviews.^[4] Janet Maslin of The New York Times lauded the picture as "an utterly disarming, believable portrait of a small-town adolescent" that "captures Miss Hinton's novel perfectly" and that would "make a star out of Matt Dillon" and "forever alter the way moviegoers think about Walt Disney pictures."^[5] Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars out of 4 and noted that Hunter and Haas, as in their previous writing effort, the 1979 film Over the Edge, were "still remembering what it's like to be young, still getting the dialogue and the attitudes, the hang-ups and the dreams, exactly right."^[6] David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor called it "probably the best picture turned out by the Disney studio since the heyday of the legendary Walt himself."^[7]

On the other hand, Variety wrote that "writers Charlie Haas and Tim Hunter (latter making his directing debut) seem intent on incorporating every conceivable adolescent and adult trauma into their script [from the novel by S.E. Hinton], thus leaving the film with a very overdone, contrived feeling."^[8]

Accolades

Golden Globe Award


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
1983	Jim Metzler	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Nominated

Young Artist Awards


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
1983	Matt Dillon	Best Young Motion Picture Actor	Nominated
1983	Tex	Best Family Motion Picture	Nominated

Home video release

Tex was released on VHS in 1983 by Walt Disney Home Video. The film was released on DVD by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on September 7, 2004.

References

^ Farber, Stephen (October 10, 1982). "THE 'ODDBALL' WHO BROUGHT 'TEX' TO DISNEY". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
^ Tex at Box Office Mojo
^ Stephen Farber, "The 'Oddball' Who Brought 'Tex' to Disney", The New York Times, October 10, 1982.
^ Tex (1982) at Rotten Tomatoes (accessed 2014-01-31).
^ Maslin, Janet (September 28, 1982). "'Tex,' Parentless Boys in Oklahoma". The New York Times.
^ Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). "Tex". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group – via rogerebert.com.
^ Sterritt, David (August 5, 1982). "'Tex,' Disney's sensitive story of a teenager's life". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society.
^ "Review: 'Tex'". Variety. December 31, 1981.

External links

[1] Farber, Stephen (October 10, 1982). "THE 'ODDBALL' WHO BROUGHT 'TEX' TO DISNEY". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved July 1, 2020.

[2] Tex at Box Office Mojo

[3] Stephen Farber, "The 'Oddball' Who Brought 'Tex' to Disney", The New York Times, October 10, 1982.

[4] Tex (1982) at Rotten Tomatoes (accessed 2014-01-31).

[5] Maslin, Janet (September 28, 1982). "'Tex,' Parentless Boys in Oklahoma". The New York Times.

[6] Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). "Tex". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group – via rogerebert.com.

[7] Sterritt, David (August 5, 1982). "'Tex,' Disney's sensitive story of a teenager's life". The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society.

[8] "Review: 'Tex'". Variety. December 31, 1981.

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