Jack Nicholson directs and stars in this Western comedy-drama.
Henry Moon (Nicholson) is caught after horse thieving and sentenced to death by hanging, but at the last minute, he is saved by the good hearted Julia Tate (Mary Steenburgen) who takes advantage of an ordinance that enables doomed males to be saved via marriage.
Put to work on her farm bequeathed to her by her father, Moon helps Tate discover gold in a mine, but it isn’t long before his old friends and foes turn up to see how he is doing….
Backed up by a great supporting cast (Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Veronica Cartwright, Richard Bradford and the late John Belushi in an early role pre-BLUES BROTHERS before his tragic death in 1982, GOIN’ SOUTH is a funny, raw and brusque Western with a terrific lead performance by Nicholson, coupled with great chemistry from Steenburgen.
Lloyd and Steenburgen reteamed twelve years later as partners again in BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III.