Escape from Bogen County

Jaclyn Smith, in her early "Charlie's Angels" days, gives a commendable, somewhat exaggerated or uneven performance as a young Mrs. tied down to the "little dictator" of a dirt-poor Texas county; she tries leaving him but, knowing too much about his shady financial dealings, is arrested without cause and thrown into jail. Made-for-TV feature doesn't look like much at first, yet director Steven Hilliard Stern has ambitions for the film to be more than just a television throwaway (he doesn't have the attentive nature needed to give the movie a suspenseful undercurrent, but his pacing and detail-work show sophistication). Michael Parks is very good as a State Ranger who helps Jaclyn out, and the film's best scene has him playing a little guitar for her in the jailhouse. Other performances are pushy and unpleasant, and the dusty, sweaty locations aren't used particularly well, yet this star-vehicle for the pretty Angel does hold the interest for much of its length.