CMT Films also involved itself in another Toby Keith acting endeavor — “Beer for My Horses,” a TV movie that was based on Keith’s hit duet with Willie Nelson. The comedy pits Keith as small-town sheriff Joe Bill “Rack” Racklin and Lonnie Freeman (Rodney Carrington), his deputy, against Tito Garza (Greg Serano) and other members of the Garza crime family. Alongside Skunk Tarver (Ted Nugent), the men must battle the Garzas and their boss, Sheriff Landry (Tom Skerritt), who doesn’t want them on the case. Elsewhere, Rack finds himself dumped by his girlfriend Cammie (Gina Gershon) and reunited with his ex-flame Annie Streets (Claire Forlani) and becomes friends with a circus ringmaster (Nelson) who introduces Rack and his friends to a particular sort of homebrewed whiskey.
The movie got a limited theatrical release, making $666,045. However critics, gave Keith and the film quite a drubbing, and it sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. With “Beer for My Horses” in the books, Keith never gave acting another serious pursuit and instead decided to focus on his music career. Since he ended up becoming a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2015 and established an undisputable music legacy, that focus definitely ended up paying off.
