This 25 or so minute short film, now available as part of a collection titled "The Short Films of David Lynch," is a ridiculously funny dive into a kind of pure realm of cliché about some cowboys who encounter a wandering Frenchman, and the antics that ensue as they become acquainted. Stereotypes are served up relentlessly as if to demonstrate just how ridiculous they are, while at the same time a kind of light sweetness pervades. There's both a silly, vaudevillian surface humor, and a deeper dreamlike release - if you get the joke. David Lynch basically goes as far as anyone could go with the idea, without getting dark. Though fascinating, nothing on David Lynch's 'Short Films' compilation was too surprising - except this one. It's a real treat.
Review of The Cowboy and the Frenchman
