THE GOOD OLD BOYS (1995) *** More ammo for those who claim that the American Dream never existed, was stillborn, is dead, or was never worth stopping for anyway. Starts off so slow that it's surprising to suddenly realize that it's got ya. Sweeping in scope, ambitious in grasp, it pulls in most of what it reaches for and never really needed the rest. Tommy Lee Jones knows something about the people portrayed, especially the one he portrays, you'll never see him in the same light again. The romance scenes with Sissy Spacek are tender and true, and Sam Shepard really is a bad influence rolling down a road of artistic moments and feelings at the expense of bourgeois values and gimmickry. Matt Damon as the mechanic who wants the world, as to be obtained through the alchemy of technology. Nice big statements before the sky turned to sunset.