Having not seen this movie for awhile, the first thing I noticed is not just the ridiculous amount of character acting talent on display, but the fact that the majority of them played excellent villain roles throughout their careers. Just off the top of my head, in the first 30 minutes we saw...
Peter Weller - Dexter
John Lithgow - Blow Up, Raising Cain, Cliffhanger, Dexter
Jonathan Banks - Beverly Hills Cop, Breaking Bad
Pepe Serna - The Jerk
Jeff Goldblum - Mister Frost, Thor: Ragnarok
Christopher Lloyd - Star Trek III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Lewis Smith - Wyatt Earp
Clancy Brown - Highlander, Carnivale, Dexter (I'm sensing a pattern here)
Dan Hedaya - Commando
Vincent Schiavelli - Batman Returns, Tomorrow Never Dies
Whew. That is one serious group of baddies, and though they're not all evil in this movie, every single actor throws themself into their performance. In fact, the only person that doesn't really blow me away in this movie is Ellen Barkin, but that's more due to her being written in a very one-note sort of way. She's still hot as hell, so that definitely helps.
One thing I've always appreciated about this movie is that it basically just drops you right into its world, and forces you to pay attention to try and catch up with everything that's going on. In a way, Jeff Goldblum's character is a surrogate for the audience in this regard, and his awkward confusion towards the beginning is certainly something that a first time viewer could feel. As it goes along, your mileage with this one is going to vary depending on how easily you can identify with the characters, follow the converging plotlines and appreciate the far out humour. Luckily I'm down with all three of these things, so Buckaroo remains a fantastic slice of entertainment from a much more interesting time in cinema. 7/10.
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