City Slickers (1991)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ron Underwood

Writers (WGA):

Lowell Ganz (written by) &
Babaloo Mandel (written by)

Release Date:

7 June 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

Yesterday They Were Businessmen. Today They're Cowboys. Tomorrow They'll Be Walking Funny.

Plot:

A mid-life crisis plagued man and his friends find renewal and purpose on a cattle driving vacation.

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Cowboy | Birthday | Radio | Spain

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Billy Crystal	...	Mitch Robbins
Daniel Stern	...	Phil Berquist
Bruno Kirby	...	Ed Furillo
Patricia Wettig	...	Barbara Robbins
Helen Slater	...	Bonnie Rayburn
Jack Palance	...	Curly Washburn
Noble Willingham	...	Clay Stone
Tracey Walter	...	Cookie
Josh Mostel	...	Barry Shalowitz
David Paymer	...	Ira Shalowitz
Bill Henderson	...	Dr. Ben Jessup
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Lou
Phill Lewis	...	Dr. Steven Jessup
Kyle Secor	...	Jeff
Dean Hallo	...	T.R.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:12 | UK:15 (TV rating) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Norway:10 (1991) | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Rick Moranis was cast in a major role but left the project because of creative differences.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Mitch walks up on Jeff and T.R. as they are harassing Bonnie, Jeff is standing with his right side to Mitch. When they switch cameras, Jeff has moved so his back it to Mitch.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[running through the streets in front of angry bulls, deliberately]
Mitch Robbins: Whose idea was this anyway?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: City Slickers" (2003)

Soundtrack:

YOUNG AT HEART

"Stand By Me" meets "Groundhog Day"

Excellent. Funny, romantic, coming-of-middle-aged, must see.

I had some difficulty trying to categorize this movie. It is extremely funny most of the time, but has an underlying emotional element throughout the film which can send you to a reminiscent mood at times. The beauty of this film is that it explores an uncommon theme among movie makers - the bond between male friends which is just as strong as the female version, but not discussed as often.

Billy Crystal plays a typical bloke in that uneasy period between being "one of the lads" and being "old" i.e. coming up to his 40th birthday. We are drawn in to the lives of all the three main characters with the ups and downs of having lived it all, settled down, and remembered what our youth was like. To get an escape by going away with your old friends once a year to relive your youth - sorry ladies, but all us guys do it now and then - provides an excellent theme for this movie made better by the fact that most viewers will relate themselves to at least one character in the cast, from the lively funster who always has the bright ideas to the quiet lad who secretly looks forward to finding out what his mates have lined up for him this year. The fairer sex are not in any way left out of this character identification with characters from the middle-aged housewife through the feisty-but-dull teenager and back to to good ol' Old Dear - all smiles, reliable no matter what life throws at you.

Without giving too much of the story away, it's difficult to say any more, other than I voted this movie 8 out of 10 and if you do decide to watch it, feel free to complain to me if you don't enjoy it - I don't expect any complaints for this recommendation :-)