The King of Texas (2008)

• Year: 2008
• Released: 01 Mar 2008
• Country: United States
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185370/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_king_of_texas
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Not Rated
• Genre: Documentary
• Runtime: 74 min
• Writer: N/A
• Director: René Pinnell
• Cast: Wayne Bell, Ray Benson, Louis Black
• Keywords:

7.1/10

The King of Texas Storyline

A rich and graceful account of the life and work of regional film pioneer Eagle Pennell, the man whose first feature directly inspired Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute and who Richard Linklater called ‘one of the patron saints of American independent film’. Directed by Rene Pinnell and Claire Huie, the documentary tells the story of Pennell’s rise through his own talent and determination and his tragic prolonged alcoholism that resulted in his death in 2002. Featuring interviews with family, friends, collaborators and admirers, ‘The King of Texas’ is at once inspirational drama, cautionary tale and worthy tribute to an unfairly maligned trailblazer of independent filmmaking.

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Excellent and illuminating documentary

This documentary paints a decidedly warts’n’all portrait of independent filmmaker Eagle Pennell, who was a highly talented, yet deeply troubled artist whose demons pertaining to alcohol and addiction alas undermined his ability to get various cinematic projects off the ground. The people interviewed herein include the amiable Lou Perryman, actor Sonny Carl Davis, writers Lin Sutherland and Kim Henkel, Eagle’s parents, actress Doris Hargrove, Willie Nelson, director Richard Linklater (who was inspired to make his own movies after he saw Eagle’s debut feature “The Whole Shootin’ Match” at a film festival), and even Eagle’s last girlfriend. They all relate lots of choice colorful tales about Eagle’s drunken antics and sad decline towards the end of his life and career due to his excessive drinking and hatred of getting older, with the yarn about Eagle’s gross behavior at a wedding reception rating as a real doozy.

Moreover, we also learn that Eagle hailed from a family of cowboys and was a star basketball player in high school, how the 1970’s was a boom time for Austin’s music and artistic scene, that “The Whole Shootin’ Match” was shot on weekends and went on to give Robert Redford the idea for the Sundance Film Festival, and that Eagle’s later films lacked that extra spark which made his earlier work so special and exceptional (Eagle was at his best when he had strong scripts to work off of). Director Rene Pinnell expertly uses a deceptively simple style that creates a sense of intimacy that’s so potent and palpable that by the end of this documentary I felt like I had lost a close dear friend despite the fact that I never even met Eagle once in person. Although he lived a tragically short life, Eagle nonetheless still managed to make a few remarkable films that capture the raw essence of Texas and its people without resorting to cardboard stereotypes. And in the long run that’s what it’s all about, now ain’t it.

Somewhere in between…

a documentary and talking with distant friends and relatives about the life and times of Eagle Pinnell.

Though he wasn’t very famous or prolific in his career, you feel like you were, at one time, knew, or had a friend who was friends with someone like Eagle Pinnell.

IMO, the best kind of life story is one that you teaches you something. And, in this case, it might be that nothing in this life is by chance and to be taken for granted, the importance of self-discipline, and not take time, talent, opportunity, and, most important of all, yourself for granted.