Amigos, Sempre Amigos

Few other comedic filmmakers understand the west on a comedic, farcical level than Ron Underwood. Just a year before directing City Slickers, Underwood directed one of my favorite contemporary comedy/horror films, Tremors, about a small, rather unpopulated town in Nevada being literally swallowed by mutant, underground worms. The film was not just fun to watch, but fun to imagine that deep underground there are large, unearthly worms that have remained undetected by elaborate seismographs and are now resurfacing to swallow anything that could cause a detectable vibration underground. Needless to say, after watching it when I was eight, I took extra-quiet steps.

And here's City Slickers, a comedy that uses the wild west as a background for numerous visual gags, snappy wordplay, and a trio of great performances. The three guys are Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal), a radio advertiser who is experiencing his midlife crisis after turning thirty-nine, Phil Berquist (Daniel Stern), who is stuck in a sexless marriage in the midst of managing a grocery store, and Ed Furillo (Bruno Kirby), a womanizer uncomfortable with the notion that there is a time to "settle down." On his birthday, Mitch is given a present from his two buds which is a vacation down on a southern cattle drive. Reluctantly, he accepts, and before they know it, they are defending the cattle drive in true western fashion.

Billy Crystal is an ideal character for Mitch. He has the right balance of comedic wit and dramatic potency to make a character like this work well on the basis of being a sadsack but also a compelling lead. Stern and Kirby work well in the supporting characters, mainly because they themselves have good comedic timing and work well off of Crystal's lead.

City Slickers works better than another western farce by the name of Three Amigos, which was stunningly mediocre in its inclusion of three hilarious comedians - Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short - and successfully finding nothing interesting to do with them. The film drifted from one stale setup to another, falling flat on its face, before stumbling over to the next contrived setup and doing the same. Too many instances in the film were dry and the laugh to actor ration was surprisingly very low.

City Slickers works because writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel know how to effectively utilize their talent and give each character sustainable depth and energy to run for the near-two hour runtime the film holds. In that time, the film is often funny, kind of poignant, a little overlong, but heartfelt all the more. It's some kind of minor miracle this was well-received by a general public.

Starring: Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby. Directed by: Ron Underwood.

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.

This movie is for anyone who needs relief from a crisis, middle-aged or otherwise.

Three buddies head down the trails to relieve their midlife crises. They wind up sharing the adventures of a lifetime. I have enjoyed this movie each and every time I have seen it. The comedy is pleasant, and you will not exhale during the river rescue scene. *** out of ****

Billy Crystal does a great job in this, and I'm really not a big fan either,, I'm more of a Jack Palance fan, by the way he was great as the trail boss.. I don't know what I would do if I had the money and two weeks off, cattle drive,, maybe not so much , but the movie provides an interesting premise for us guys in their late 30's early 40's . 3 men with jobs in the city , work their butt's off for a year and save up their vacation time to go on a cattle drive,, and in two weeks,, try to find themselves as men,, as each one of them has something different that he wants to accomplish. but the main thing is that they all have fun doing it,, along the way the meet "Curly" ,, Jack Palance as the trail boss,, I don't know why he wasn't in the whole movie,, but that's another subject all together,, my favorite character however without a doubt was little "Norman" the cow,, excellent funny movie,, love the river chase scene, this is one of those movies that I can watch once or twice every year and not get tired of it .

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.