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City Slickers
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by Columbia Pictures
Sales Rank: 117183
Price: $10.00
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Three middle-age buddies (Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby) facing personal crises decide to sign up for a two-week cattle run for a change of pace. The trail proves a tougher place than anyone thought, and the boss (Jack Palance) is a grizzled taskmaster who doesn't cotton to tenderfoot urbanites. Popular in theaters, the film is both funny and moving, with Crystal giving one of his most complete performances and Palance (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) a lot of colorful fun. Director Ron Underwood (<I>Heart and Souls</I>) subtly shifts the tone of the film from broad comedy to poignancy over its running time, and he makes the story's end a bittersweet victory that feels like life as most people know it. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
One of the biggest `are you kidding me' moments in Oscar history for me has got to be Jack Palance winning the supporting Oscar for his performance in `City Slickers'. Honestly, sure, it's not a terrible performance, but can you honestly call it a performance? He has like two scenes and what he does with them is truly nothing special.
In fact the entire film can be summed up in those very words; nothing special. It's funny in parts and the moral at the end is touching, but overall there is nothing here than cannot be found in a dozen (or more) other comedies, with greater effect even. The film is littered with standard one-liners that hit some time and miss others, and while the overall effect of the film is satisfying, it is nothing extraordinary.
The film follows Mitch Robbins, a man who loves his family but is disappointed with his overall lot in life and thus becomes bogged down by what he could have been and what he wound up becoming. His job is not exciting, but life in general is pretty boring and his outlook appears rather bleak. Add to that the fact that it is his birthday and you have a middle-aged man about to hit crisis mode. That is why his wife urges him to accompany his two best friends on a cattle drive adventure that is sure to bring Mitch to terms with his life. He begrudgingly goes along, but it winds up being the best thing for him.
Billy Crystal is generally pretty funny, but it wasn't until watching this movie that I realized how generic he really is. He's funny, sure, but nothing spectacular. His performance is genuine enough, but there is no real spark behind it; nothing that makes you beg for more. Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby, who play Mitch's best friends Phil and Ed, are actually much funnier than Crystal is here. Jack Palance has some funny lines here but overall his performance feels unfulfilled.
I know that a lot of people love this movie, and I can't say that it isn't worth a watch or two. I thought it was funny, I laughed, I enjoyed myself, but I also realize that this is not the greatest comedy known to man, and the added admiration is a bit over the top. It's a good generic comedy that ends on a nice moral, that's about it.
Like I said; nothing special.
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