City Slickers Movie Review

City Slickers (1991)

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Written by: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Directed by: Ron Underwood
Starring: Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Jake Gyllenhaal
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

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

Verdict
This is one of those popular movies that I somehow missed. It seems to be one you had to watch at the time to appreciate. It's probably a great version of this type of '90s comedy, but it's not silly enough for a pure comedy and the characters take serious events rather glibly. It ventures into fantasy territory with average guys becoming cowboys with almost no training just because the situation demanded it. While the comedy isn't fresh, it may have been when this movie released.
It depends.

Review
Mitch (Billy Crystal) is grappling with age as he enters a mid-life crisis. His job is unfulfilling and he feels trapped. He can't just quit his job. He has responsibilities and a family. His two best friends, Phil and Ed, coax him into a cattle run vacation.

Billy Crystal plays Mitch.

This has the jokes you would expect from a bunch of clueless city slickers on a cattle run. They have no idea what they're doing, but they're just along for the ride as the real cowboys rustle cattle. Billy Crystal plays to type with self-deprecating humor, a nice guy quick with a witty retort.

Jack Palance plays Curly.

Curly (Jack Palance) is the grizzled trail boss portrayed as a cartoon villain. He's tough as nails and always seems to be holding a knife. He borders on silly. Curly and Mitch manage to bond while tracking down a pregnant stray cow. The calf-birthing scene was surprising graphic.

You can tell where this is going. Mitch and his friends are going to learn about themselves and realize they do like their lives. The adventure helps them realize what really matters. I assumed they would overcome their fears and insecurities by the end and they do.

Maybe this is just a product of its time. It's wild in a way; light in tone with some disturbing scenes. One of the guests on the cattle run manages to wrestle a gun from a cowboy, potentially seconds away from murder. The characters don't have much issue with it. Maybe the issues is seeing this movie through a contemporary vantage point. The person seems like a danger to themselves and everyone else, but it's treated as just upset in the moment. That's not normal behavior.

Bruno Kirby, Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern play Ed, Mitch, Phil.

This movie feels a bit like checking boxes: wacky vacation, jokes about cowboys, completely clueless guys making silly mistakes, using skills he couldn't master before in a dire situation, etc. The whole movie seems too easy. I never saw them taught how to rustle cattle and somehow they manage with no help. I doubt it's as easy as they make it seem.

By the end Mitch, Phil, and Ed have a new lease on life. They've overcome their fears by rustling cattle. This is probably a great '90s comedy that infuses the genre with life changing moments, but it's not something I'll go back to.