The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sadly Over-hyped

As Good As It Gets

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Lynch fascinates me and I love discovering new works by him. Twin Peaks, IMHO, is one of the greatest series of all time and it's a shame and tragedy that it only lasted two seasons. Likewise, Eraserhead is a beautiful, creative work of art. I have the utmost respect for Lynch and his work, but I have to admit, I just didn't get this film. Other reviews claim this movie is hilarious and that Lynch proved he can master humor. I'm sorry, but I chuckled once during this film and was bored for the rest. I actually wonder if the positive reviews with such high ratings are simply by die-hard fans who will claim everything Lynch has ever done is genius. Like I said, I'm a tremendous fan, but this film, IMO, was highly mediocre.If you're a fan of Lynch and want to soak up everything he has ever done, by all means, watch this one. But if you're looking for hilarious comedy, most along, there is nothing to see here.

More like three, you have to count the Indian.Okay.This film is hilarious. David Lynch, always having the serious work he does with the dirty, bizarre worlds and the disturbing, psychological characters, mixes it up a bit with The Cowboy and the Frenchman, a tale (that doesn't really make sense, as per his usual work) about a bunch of cowboys who find a Frenchman and befriend him. The culture clash is more than one can handle, what with the mix of music, stereotype ("Damn, what's that? Damn, what's that? Damn, what's that? Damn, what's that? Damn, what's that?"), and caricature.In fact, the entire strength of this short rests on the moment the two underlings open up the Frenchman's case and start pulling out his "affairs", all of them stereotypical things Americans think the French are obsessed with but which are really just things they happen to have a lot of in their culture (the French equivalent would be opening up an American's suitcase and finding a pile of hamburgers and televisions).Not to say the cowboys don't get their collection of satire, what with shooting random animals, being absolutely stupid, and never understanding anything.It's piercingly funny, even if it is about five minutes too long and isn't really that much of a work of art as much as just a silly exposition.--PolarisDiB

The Cowboy and the Frenchman, which is included among the lot of the director's short films (some from his days before Eraserhead and some he's done since Mulholland Drive), is so Lynchian if you've only seen one of his films- particularly Wild at Heart or Lost Highway- you could tell who made it. Though it doesn't make it any less strange, it also happens to be his funniest film, with the long takes long enough to capture the awkwardness of the cowboys with their 'captive' Frenchman, and an assortment of strung-together stereotypes. Anything clichéd about French people, or cowboys for that matter, is exploited to a very funny effect. In a way it's funny at times like a Jim Jarmusch film is, in pointing to the differences and lack of communication as something very human and interesting. It's not as 'artsy' as Eraserhead (though with a little nod to that film there are singing faces in the sky), and it takes its time to lead up to ridiculously no point. But it's shot in a very cool black and white film (or maybe video, who knows), some neat shots, and the added plus of the great character actor Harry Dean Stanton among the cast of nobody's (save for Lynch regular Jack Nance). If you can find it, likely among other Lynch shorts or online, it's worth a view. It's an absurd shot of American versus European versus Native American pathos, containing the most morbid though not-too-dreamlike moments of Lynch's films.

This is a French tv show that David Lynch was commissioned to make and it is so funny. It is his take on American's perception of the French and all the cliches are thrown in. This is worth checking out just to see Harry Dean Stanton say "What the hell!" over and over again.