Rustlers' Rhapsody

Rustlers' Rhapsody is a 1985 American comedy–Western film. It is a parody of many Western conventions, most visibly of the singing cowboy films that were prominent in the 1930s and the 1940s. The film was written and directed by Hugh Wilson, who was supposedly inspired by working at CBS Studio Center, the former Republic Pictures backlot. It stars Tom Berenger as a stereotypical good-guy cowboy, Rex O'Herlihan, who is drawn out of a black-and-white film and transferred into a more self-aware setting. Patrick Wayne, son of Western icon John Wayne, co-stars, along with Andy Griffith, Fernando Rey, G.W. Bailey, Marilu Henner and Sela Ward. Henner was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Supporting Actress. Plot The concept of the film is explained in a voiceover wondering what it would be like if one of the old Rex O'Herlihan films were to be made today. At that point, the scene shifts from black and white to color and the soundtrack changes from mono to surround sound. As a consequence of this paradigm shift, Rex O'Herlihan, a "singing cowboy", is the only character aware of the plot outline. He explains that he "knows the future" inasmuch as "these Western towns are all the same" and that it's his "karma" to "ride into a town, help the good guys, who are usually poor for some reason, against the bad guys, who are usually rich for some reason, and ride out again." Rex's knowledge is also connected to the unspecified "root" vegetables he digs up and eats.