Watch Buster and Billie For Free

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

High school senior in rural Georgia community in 1948 develops genuine feelings for the town squeeze, a fellow student whose bad reputation belies a shy, insecure girl with a good heart. More teenage reminiscences set in the past from a 'sensitive' screenwriter (in this case, Ron Turbeville, working from Ron Bartron's manufactured plot and his own childhood memories). Jan-Michael Vincent is terrific as Buster, a rather benign hell-raiser who trades in nice girl Pamela Sue Martin for Joan Goodfellow, an easy target for the horny guys just looking for a good time. Vincent admirably doesn't rely on his matinée good looks to get his character across; striking a nimble balance between an uninspired, ordinary kid and a young man dealing with mature emotions, the actor nearly keeps his lady-killer smile in check (he also doesn't duck the camera self-consciously--he gives what is needed). Vincent is the only reason to see the film, the other kids seeming like leftovers from "Summer of '42" and beyond. Tale of teen tragedy has strong moments, but not an unerring eye for detail nor an ear for natural conversation. There are also the obligatory scenes: the drive-in movie date, skinny-dipping at the lake, the father-son chat, the showdown at the local pool hall. It's stilted and soapy and familiar--like an R-rated revamping of "Claudelle Inglish". Director Daniel Petrie engineers the pathos with workmanlike skill. ** from ****

While doing a search on your website to find out what other movies Robert Englund was in besides A Nightmare on Elm Street I came across a movie that I haven't thought of in years, Buster and Billie. I immediately felt this wave of emotion. I was 20 when this movie was released and although I couldn't remember right away the whole plot of the movie I remembered it as one of my favourites. After reading some of the story line and talking to my husband who has a much better memory than I do I realized why my feeling at the mere mention of the title was so extreme. It was wonderful albeit very, very tragic. My husband also remembers it as being one of his favourites. I don't know if I want to ever watch it again or just keep the memory of a film that touched me deeply years ago.

Buster and Billie touched my heart i was twelve the first time i seen it at our small town drive-in i'm forty-two now. It was a true love story i remember crying so much and thinking Billie never had ever hurt anyone in her life or Buster. I loved it when he bought her that beautiful dress because she had never had anything. Buster was so in love with her and treated her so very special like Billie deserved. I would love to see it again if i could find it. I would for sure need tissues if i watched it again it was so very sad. I'm so glad they found one another and had a wonderful time together even though it was a short time. I hope all of you who enjoy a great movie get to see it. Tam from Indiana

This is the kind of movie that hard-core movie fans watch again and again and talk about endlessly. I have seen it a dozen times and there is more to it each time. But we have to ask how it narrowly missed greatness.The chemistry between Jan Michael Vincent and Joan Goodfellow works as it is; but Hollywood was so intent on making JVM a "star" that much stronger actors were passed over. The biggest imponderable is this: Roberta Pedon read for the part of "Billie"; if she had been chosen for the role (despite her well-known drug problems and troubled past) and a stronger male actor cast as "Buster", this movie could have become a downbeat version of "Casablanca" for the baby-boom generation. Joan Goodfellow plays the "Billie" role in an intentionally understated and professional manner; but Vincent can't seem to decide whether he is playing a tormented lover or a kung-fu fighter. He fails at both.