TIM CONWAY IN 'THEY WENT THAT-A-WAY & THAT-A-WAY'

Year of Release: 1978

Back in the days of movie tie-ins, or what was mostly referred to as novelizations, the rural buddy comedy THEY WENT THAT-A-WAY & THAT-A-WAY made for good reading since the story, much like the Dana Andrews' courtroom thriller BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT before and Sylvester Stallone's ESCAPE PLAN after, used the same primary template...

In this case, two guys are sent to prison undercover and only one person... the governor... knows about it and, when said sole witness dies, the boys are completely screwed: locked-up possibly for good, and, strangely enough, the dullest scenes take place there in lockup, with character-actors such as Lenny Montana, Dub Taylor and "Jaws" from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, Richard Kiel, as the big, tall, scary tough guy...

Score: ***1/2

Here it's an old school Southern CHAIN GANG setting while the team is Tim Conway, only given first billing for his popularity and the fact he wrote the story... 

Meanwhile, like when opposite Tom Bosley in GUS, the alpha male has more lines and overall input, as in recently departed Chuck McCann, more of a bully to Conway's usual deadpan idiot: the latter with the expression of a loyal dog waiting for scraps from the table that never come...

The boys are hick town policeman who don't know their "asses from their elbows" in a setting popular during the 1970's with cars kicking up dirt — and eventually, during the final act, there's an all-out chase scene that the title gives away: Here's IT'S A MAD MAD (etc.) WORLD styling that keeps the entire ride entertaining enough to where you may not have to suffer-through with the queasy feeling, "What was I thinking for ever liking this movie?" Time's spent (served) well enough here.