City Slickers (1991)

On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.

Director:

Ron Underwood

Writers:

Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel

Stars:

Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Mitch is a middle aged big-city radio ads salesman. He and his friends Ed and Phil are having mid-life crisis. They decide the best birthday gift is to go on a two week holiday in the wild west driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There they meet cowboy Curly who not only teaches them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life in the open air of the west.

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Plot Keywords:

fish out of water | cowboy | cattle | new mexico | colorado | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amigos... siempre amigos

Filming Locations:

Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,032,121, 9 June 1991, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$124,033,791

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$179,033,791

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment,Nelson Entertainment,Face Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Billy Crystal, Charles Bronson turned down the role of Curly in an unseemly way which he reveals in his 2013 book "Still Foolin' Em"

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Goofs

The cow that gives birth is a steer - a castrated male.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits show a cartoon of a cowboy practicing with a lasso

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Alternate Versions

AMC version makes two changes in the scene where Mitch talks to his son's class; Sal's story is removed entirely, and the scene begins with the kids cheering, and Sal's "masturbation" hand gesture during Mitch's speech is replaced with an alternate take where Sal instead makes the "Whoopee!" gesture with his index finger.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: City Slickers (2003)

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Soundtracks

Young at Heart
(1953)
CHERIO CORP. and JUNE'S TUNES
Words by Carolyn Leigh
Music by Johnny Richards
Performed by Jimmy Durante
Courtesy of WARNER BROS. RECORDS INC.
By Arrangement with WARNER SPECIAL PRODUCTS

User Reviews

Comedy,Adventure,friendship and the wild west all combine to make one pretty good movie!

City Slickers-was when I first saw the previews many years ago, nothing I thought I'd be interested in. Then I saw it. I was very much mistaken, I got into this right away with enthusiasm-this isn't just a good movie, I'd call it very good or even great. I didn't expect the depth and the beauty of the storyline that I got. One of the best movies Billie Crystal has ever made.

City Slickers had moments of comedy that were actually funny. Really really funny. In addition, the emotional element that went along with the comedy just made it a that much more satisfying movie going experience. This is a movie that stands out by combining fantastic humor with a touching and relatable story about three friends and the search to find who they really are as people. And that this all takes place in such stunning surroundings just completes the movie experience.

The dialogue was real and relateable and what was done so well, was how all encompassing the movie was-comedy,western,drama-everything was combined here and the results flowed perfectly smooth and were great. This script was superb.

Identity is an issue that all people struggle with at any age-the way these people spoke to each other were probebly very close in nature to conversations going on right now. The cinemotography was magnificent and the characters were believable to the point where you either feel like you know them or you'd like to. I think that's enough reasons to dig the movie! In short-City Slickers is a surprisingly excellent movie that garners a 9 out of 10 for me and can be enjoyed by all.