It's not a spoiler to reveal that Clark is one of the three killers (because I'd say you know Dick), alongside Diane Varsi and Robert Walker. It would spoil some to explain the killing, but let's just say like the vast majority of films made between 1965 to 1975, this one involves a guy looking to make a better life for himself by quitting a life runnin' 'shine away from the rev'nue.
The whole plan works about as well as you would expect, though if you're watching this late at night and your attention wanders, don't worry. Every few scenes, Merle Haggard sings a few more verses of a ballad that recaps the action. Was it this that got him the same gig on "The Dukes of Hazzard?" I'm not sure this country-music-as-Greek-chorus idea ever works, because it's never used in movies with plots sophisticated enough to demand it. "East Bound and Down" is a catchy li'l number but theatergoers probably could have understood "Smokey and the Bandit" without it.
Two important points. First, Clark's performance is dead-on prescient of a boilerplate William H. Macy. Second, he's surprisingly OK at this. Unfortunately, he ruins any cred he could have generated here through this ridiculous choice he made as the film's producer: in every place that his name appears in the opening titles and end credits, a custom logo is used that is distinctly different from all other names. This is done even in the cast list, where he is third-billed. What a jerk.
Norman Alden (as Guthrie) is an all-time favorite character actor whose voice you will likely recognize if you're not aware of his face, and Maureen Arthur (as Elvira Sweeney) provides a whole Daisy Mae-type thing that if it's not in this kind of flick, you feel ripped off.
If you're an Amazon Prime person, you've already paid to see this, so do so. Recommended!
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