Plot
A mid-life crisis plagued man and his friends find renewal and purpose on a cattle driving vacation.
Release Year: 1991
Rating: 6.7/10 (23,932 voted)
Director:
Ron Underwood
Stars: Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern
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.
Writers: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Cast: Billy Crystal
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Mitch Robbins
Daniel Stern
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Phil Berquist
Bruno Kirby
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Ed Furillo
Patricia Wettig
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Barbara Robbins
Helen Slater
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Bonnie Rayburn
Jack Palance
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Curly Washburn
Noble Willingham
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Clay Stone
Tracey Walter
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Cookie
Josh Mostel
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Barry Shalowitz
David Paymer
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Ira Shalowitz
Bill Henderson
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Dr. Ben Jessup
Jeffrey Tambor
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Lou
Phill Lewis
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Dr. Steven Jessup
Kyle Secor
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Jeff
Dean Hallo
-
T.R.
Taglines:
Yesterday They Were Businessmen. Today They're Cowboys. Tomorrow They'll Be Walking Funny.
Release Date: 7 June 1991
Filming Locations: Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA
Gross: $124,033,791
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Some trailers feature a scene where someone's spurs are caught on a rail, but this scene is not in the movie.
Goofs:
Continuity:
After the cattle drive is over, Clay says, "Let's get some grub". Ira, Ben and Steve, Barry, Cookie, and Bonnie follow, in that order. But when they switch cameras, their order is Barry, Ira, Bonnie, Ben and Steve, and Cookie following Clay and Millie towards the house.
Quotes:
[first lines]
[running through the streets in front of angry bulls, deliberately]
Mitch Robbins:
Whose idea was this anyway?
User Review
First-rate comedy with some serious themes running just beneath the surface.
Rating: 8/10
City Slickers entertained me enormously when I was a teenager because it
has some good, solid laughs. Nowadays, as I approach my thirtieth birthday
with frightening momentum, it still entertains me but it touches me too.
That's probably what makes it such a great film: the skillful intertwining
of humour, emotion and action.
New Yorker Mitch (Billy Crystal) has reached crisis point in his mundane
life. Bored by his job in the lower reaches of radio broadcasting and
frustrated by the alarming rate at which years seem to be passing him by, he
senses that his life has been a failure. His two friends, Phil (Daniel
Stern) and Ed (Bruno Kirby) buy him a two week vacation for his birthday. No
ordinary vacation, mind... a fortnight driving cattle across the Wild West,
just like in the good old days. And it is while on this extraordinary
vacation that the three buddies learn how to make the most of their mixed-up
lives.
The performances are uniformly excellent, especially Crystal who is in
sharper form than ever before (or since, come to think of it) and Jack
Palance as the leathery trail boss whose simple philosophies are
surprisingly insightful. The scripting is outstanding, giving all the stars
a chance to do some good character development, while providing terrific
laugh-out-loud moments too. The film works on other levels too: the music is
stirring, the photography spectacular and the editting very sharp
(especially in a superb scene in which Crystal tries on an assortment of
ill-fitting cowboy hats, only to opt in the end for his trusty old baseball
cap). City Slickers is great entertainment, and one of the truly timeless
comedy masterpieces from its decade.
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