User reviews

I saw this film several times as a young teen. It's not the greatest film but it's not bad and a little bit underrated on IMDb. The country music film is a comedy-drama with a little action thrown in here and there. The movie also has a little romance in it as well. It is one of those lesser known films that I think more people would like if they took the time to view the movie.

Fans of country-western films like "Urban Cowboy", "Cole Miner's Daughter", "Crazy Heart" and "Tender Mercies" might like this film.

The movie is also a good recommendation for the people that like "hidden gems" - films that most people have forgotten even existed. Give "The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia" a chance one day when you are in the mood for something different than your normal film genre favorites.

7/10

Travis Child (Dennis Quaid) is a skirt-chasing hard-drinking country singer. His sister Amanda Child (Kristy McNichol) is his tough driven manager pushing to go to Nashville. They've been on the road for six months and always on the run from jealous boyfriends/husbands or general mayhem. They get separated. Amanda is stopped by deputy Conrad (Mark Hamill). Travis gets arrested after hitting a cop.

The plot isn't anything special. The production is relatively lower grade. The movie does have two very charismatic performances. Quaid is terrific and a solid singer. McNichol is wonderful as the spunky teen with definite edge. I love them both. The country singing is pretty catchy. The movie runs a little long but it has the fine performances and Luke Skywalker, too.

After 1980's "Little Darlings" grossed some $40 million at the box office, everyone credited scene-stealer Kristy McNichol with its success; the teen actress then had the opportunity to do anything she wanted...and she chose this comedy-drama with country music. Why? Because she gets to sing, act sexy and tough, be soft, and do a drunk routine (which doesn't come off--she's one of the most unconvincing drunks ever). McNichol plays business-minded sis to brother Dennis Quaid, a hell-raising, skirt-chasing musician, but his scrapes with the law make Kristy turn to cop Mark Hamill for help. That's the whole plot, really. The picture is such a mess from a director's standpoint, I can imagine the editor (Anne Goursand) sitting at her cutting machine surrounded by reels of film going out of her mind. Pieces of it are energetic, McNichol is engaging, but the guys are colorless, the writing is pedestrian, and the ending is dopey instead of moving. The rather ungainly title is lifted from a 1972 hit song, which has been rewritten completely and rerecorded here. Why did they bother using it at all? ** from ****

Yeah, it's cheesy. Dennis Quaid and Kristy McNichol sing, or try to. That just about says it all. But, I grew up watching this movie. It seems like it came on every summer, along with Kristy's other flicks: "Only When I Laugh" and "Little Darlings." I went to great lengths recently to buy the out-of-print video. Seeing it just takes me back. Great cinema? Uh, no. But good for a little nostalgia and fun cheesiness? Definitely.

The final fifteen minute segment gives the film at least some depth. But getting there is something of a chore. In this Kristy McNichol vehicle, a young country/western singer named Travis (Dennis Quaid) and his kid sister Amanda (McNichol) travel around the South playing honky-tonk joints, en route to Nashville, where they dream of making it big. Apart from the Southern setting, the plot has almost nothing in common with the title song, first recorded by Vicki Lawrence.

Most of the plot consists of bar room talk, with no fewer than three fights; country music with a couple of pretty good songs; and a rakish Travis chasing attractive females, much to the chagrin of the business oriented Amanda and jealous local rednecks. Until near the end, the story just repeats these three basic themes.

I didn't believe for a second that Amanda, as a 16-year-old, was capable either of deal making with record producers or performing professionally in front of an audience. Kristy McNichol is not convincing as a Southerner and neither is Mark Hamill. Dennis Quaid fares better in the role he plays.

Visuals, editing, costumes, and sets are okay but nothing special. The misleading title gives the impression of a hastily put together script to take financial advantage of the success of the Vicki Lawrence song. A thirty-minute short could have covered the same story ground and been less tedious to sit through.

I guess what makes this flick so unique for me is the fact that it was filmed almost entirely on location in my hometown....of Trenton, Georgia...which is a smalltown(Population app. 1,500) in the Northwest Georgia Mountains....the backdrop wasn't changed at all...and now I can watch this film and see my hometown 22 years ago(even though it was released in 1981...it was filmed during the summer months of 1980)....The script is lacking indeed..I'll give you that...but, it does have my favorite actor of all time(Dennis Quaid) starring in it...I've often thought if they'd made the movie based strictly on the lyrics to the well known Vicki Lawrence song..it would have been much better....But, as it is...if you aren't from the Chattanooga,Tn./Trenton,Ga. area it would probably be a major dissapointment for you....But, if you like Dennis Quaid or Don Stroud you'll enjoy it...worth watching...Dennis Quaid surprised me...He really can sing!!!

Dennis Quaid plays Travis Child a skirt-chasing (yet lovable) guy who is constantly sleeping with married women and getting in trouble with the law. His sister straight arrow Amanda (Kristy McNichol) tries to keep him out of trouble but can't do it. She tries to get policeman Conrad (Mark Hamill) to help her...but has Travis gone too far?

If you've heard the title song you basically know the outcome. This is a dull, totally predictable, by the numbers drama. I was one of the few people who actually paid money to see it in a theatre in 1981. I remember the snickers coming from the audience during the "dramatic" scenes...especially at the ending. The only thing that made this endurable where Quaid and McNichol. They effortlessly give out good performances and make this somewhat interesting. Also McNichol play a singer and she was a good singer so she belts out a few songs. Also, in case any one is interested, Quaid bares his butt in this one. Hamill is just terrible...but it's not entirely his fault. His character is badly underwritten and he's just there to provide a love interest for McNichol.

So...this is pretty bad story-wise but worth catching if you like Quaid or McNichol. Or you can just listen to the song and get virtually the entire movie in three minutes. Pretty much forgotten...and for good reason. I give it a 5.

If you like road movies, tear-jerkers and real rock'in country music,u will just loooove this flick ! One of my favorites. I wish I could find a decent soundtrack in any format. My VHS copy seems to be a copy of a copy of a copy ie not the best quality... I watch this movie every 2 years.....The cast is great and the acting is too. In the old days one went to the flicks to cry, laugh & be moved or excited. This ones does it for me ! I particularly like one of the first scenes (filmed from hi up in a 'copter, showing their red truck rolling down the hi-way with guitar music blasting ! (well I do put the sound up real LOUD...). The only thing missing is me following behind on my 1939 red Indian Chief !

'Sex, action, humour, suspense and great songs!' is what the video jacket reads on this 1981 vehicle for McNichol. The first thing I was expecting when I placed the battered old VHS tape into the VCR was Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise to show up with Loni Anderson. Well like those films there's bar room brawls, redneck humour and the handsome hero who finds time to chase a quick bit of T & A before they move on.

Loosely based on the Reba Mcentire song of the same name, this movie is a bit more toned down than most of the southern redneck comedies of the early 80's, although there's still enough kitsch fun to make it worth the price of rental. Quaid and McNichol are pretty good in their roles and CAN sing, however Mark Hamill's 'performance' as Conrad, the deputy who tries the win the heart McNichol has to be seen to be believed.

This charming little artifact is worth picking up as a double feature to something like 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)' or 'Rhinestone (1984)'.

I saw this film when it first came out in the early 1980s. I had a big crush on Kristy McNichol and just had to see this film. Somewhat an offbeat mixture of country humor and drama, The Night The Lights Went Off in Georgia starts off like a cornball comedy and ends up deadly serious.Kristy McNichol proved she could sing and was very good in "Baby Bye-Bye". Dennis Quaid was an up-coming star, and his rugged good looks, and boyish charm are backed up by his extremely well singing talents. Amazing that Quaid didn't become a country music singing star, I thought he was that good. Mark Hamill is pleasant as the love-struck cop, but it's an "ice-cream cone" performance. The late Sunny Johnson looked beautiful, and it's a real shame that this talented actress died so young.

I saw this movie in the LAST drive-in theater in my area in June, 1981 (I was 17 and already had my own car). I didn't care about what movie I saw, it was just a night out with (wow, what WAS her name?)...anyway, I found myself interested with Don Stroud's excellent performance of the cop, Seth, and his vengeful, jealous treatment of Quaid's main character. He was spot-on. I have known too many men like this character; obsessively jealous over his girl, overly vindictive in any wrong they feel slighted by. The music was okay, the acting was good (although, in fairness, Miss McNichol did have a long way to go at this point, and has since proved herself marvelously)...but the power-crazy cop who beats up his nemesis brutally in the bar did the movie for me, especially after the triumphant, gloating grin he says to the girl "let's go..." and she dumps him there and then. His reaction to this was also priceless. Not a fabulous movie by any stretch, but not a bomb either. Very enjoyable.

i saw the night the lights went out in georgia in the 1980's - thought it was a great movie, good music, always wondered what happen to the movie, why you can't buy it hope to see it come available soon! very touching movie kristy and dennis did a great job acting and singing

More vague impressions of a film from a time when the then very cute Kristy McNichol was the hot commodity on TV and film. Truth is I can't remember much of this film other than my peers mentioning it over and over again, and how it had "Kristy McNichol" in it. That was always followed by "She was in Little Darlings... have you seen 'The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia'"?

The movie itself is nothing to brag about. I finally saw it one afternoon, and really didn't quite get the whole thing. In fact, I don't ever remember a single joke or gag. The one thing I remember is Kristy's character driving around this pickup. In fact, that may have been the last shot.

What I do recall is a sappy, not so smart, quasi brother-sister road- trip film that seemed a little thin. Maybe it's because I was never a young teenage girl with an alcoholic brother that keeps me from connecting with this film, I don't really know. What I do know is that I slept through part of it.

I don't know... did this review help anyone? Probably not, but hey, for what it's worth, I can't remember enjoying it a great deal. If you're a woman who had an older brother with issues, or are a huge Kristy McNichol fan, then there may be something here for you.

This has been one of my favorite movies since I saw it st the theater when I was 13. Dennis Quaid is gorgeous as Travis. He plays Travis with such charm and does his own singing. Kristy McNichol plays his teenage sister, Amanda.The dynamic between Travis and Amanda is great. They are all each other have and are heading to Nashville to further Travis's career. They end up stuck in a small town in Georgia, where they each find love and a different path. The movie us definitely worth watching and the music is great. Give it a try.