THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS

SYNOPSIS: Town Sheriff and regular patron, fights to keep a historic whorehouse open when a TV preacher targets it as the Devils playhouse.

BOTTOM LINE: A raucous, silly, musical comedy long on outrageousness and short on plot. It's certainly one of few films to take place inside a brothel. Parton stars as Miss Mona, the sweet and sexy madam of the Chicken Ranch, a 100-year-old Texas institution. Her innate charm and goodness takes the sordidness out of the topic, making the business seem more like a community service than a felony. That is until a local TV personality, played with fervent gusto by DeLuise, decides to expose the small Texas secret as a means to further his own celebrity. Mona depends on the local sheriff, Ed Earl (Reynolds), her protector and lover, to handle the situation, but his infernal temper just adds fuel to the flame. The simple joy of the film begins to unravel when the story turns from loving to politics. Granted, without the danger of closure, there isn't really anywhere for the plot to go, yet the political machinations grind the film to a stand still. Durning is great as the governor caught between the crusader and the whore, but his troubles aren't what the audience cares about. It's the relationship between Parton and Reynolds that gives the film flair and heart. The musical numbers are lively, imaginative and slightly naughty. The songs catchy enough to keep them rolling around in your head for days. They are what makes this film at all entertaining and one of my cinema guilty pleasures.