I saw this in 1990 in Park City. This was before Hollywood overran Sundance and it was still a venue for very low budget independent features. It was an early morning showing, with a small audience, and only a few, including my buddy and I, but not our wives, really got into it.
I later saw a somewhat similar audience response to a Raising Arizona preview. Those two films would make a great double bill.
There may be a particular style of "Western America Satire" that both these films capture. It's possible the Three Stooges foreshadowed this school of dumb-dude cowboy comedy. Or not. There's at least an interesting thesis there for some hapless film grad student somewhere.
The stars/filmmakers were in attendance at that Sundance showing and came out looking and acting a little apprehensive. I suspect they may have been skewered by some of the comments after previous showings. The first couple of audience comments I heard weren't kind.
However, my buddy and I were effusive in our praises of their comic achievement and that seemed to be appreciated.
Seriously, I don't know if "Never Leave Nevada" has ever been shown on the Sundance Channel or IFC, but it should. Do see it if you get the chance. I promise you'll either love it or hate it and that's a good thing!
