La vie, l'amour... les vaches

Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) is frustrated with his job selling ad time on the radio. Phil Berquist (Daniel Stern) is in a hateful marriage and found cheating with the checkout girl. Ed Furillo (Bruno Kirby) is settling down with an underwear model. The three friends decide to go on a getaway driving cattle. There they meet the beautiful Bonnie Rayburn (Helen Slater) who just was recently dumped, father & son dentists, Barry & Ira ice cream makers, and the harden trail boss Curly (Jack Palance).

What makes this work is the chemistry between the three good comedic talents, and Jack Palance playing up his rough cowboy act. It has a sweet heart and Billy Crystal making jokes when he was still funny. It has some really funny insightful mid-life-crisis guy talk. And Jack Palance delivers some funny memorable punchlines.

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.

A wonderful, wonderful film, and if you're my age, you'll cry.

From 1991, "City Slickers" stars Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Jack Palance, Patricia Wettig, and Helen Slater.

Three men (city folk) whose lives range from unhappy to disastrous go on a two week holiday in the wild west driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There, on the open range, away from their responsibilities, they can perhaps sort out what they want and who they are.

Crystal is Mitch, a happily married man with children who hates his job and is depressed most of the time. When he gets a 30th birthday gift from his pals to do the cattle drive, his wife (Wettig) insists that he go rather than visit her family. If he hesitates, it's because his friend Ed's last idea, of running with the bulls in Pamplona, was a horror.

Phil (Stern) is humiliated at Mitch's 30th birthday party when a woman who works for him comes in and announces she's missed her period, thus causing his wife to dump him on the spot - though they've been miserable for years.

Ed has a lingerie model girlfriend who wants a family, but he's having trouble making a commitment.

So all three go.

There, they meet some real cowboys, and the oldest one, Curly (Palance), is one tough cookie. But Mitch is able to spend some time with him, and Curly tells him that only one thing matters. Just one. But you have to figure out what that one thing is. When Mitch has a crisis, he finally finds out what it is for him.

I really loved this film. It was absolutely hilarious, with some of Billy Crystal's fabulous delivery, and yet very touching at the same time. A perfect combination, something that's not always easy to achieve. Very well acted and directed, the film moves along beautifully.

Highly recommended. Full of wit, with some excitement, and poignant moments.

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.

"City Slickers" is one of those curiosities that is just good pure entertainment that works in spite of itself. Billy Crystal is going through a mid-life crisis. It is time to get away. So he goes on a trail ride with friends Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby. What follows is a funny film that is full of outlandish delight. Oscar-winner Jack Palance dominates in a very short role as the man hired to look after Crystal, his friends and a group of interesting characters. Charming little film. 4 stars out of 5.