La vie, l'amour... les vaches

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.

Excellent. Funny, romantic, coming-of-middle-aged, must see.

I had some difficulty trying to categorize this movie. It is extremely funny most of the time, but has an underlying emotional element throughout the film which can send you to a reminiscent mood at times. The beauty of this film is that it explores an uncommon theme among movie makers - the bond between male friends which is just as strong as the female version, but not discussed as often.

Billy Crystal plays a typical bloke in that uneasy period between being "one of the lads" and being "old" i.e. coming up to his 40th birthday. We are drawn in to the lives of all the three main characters with the ups and downs of having lived it all, settled down, and remembered what our youth was like. To get an escape by going away with your old friends once a year to relive your youth - sorry ladies, but all us guys do it now and then - provides an excellent theme for this movie made better by the fact that most viewers will relate themselves to at least one character in the cast, from the lively funster who always has the bright ideas to the quiet lad who secretly looks forward to finding out what his mates have lined up for him this year. The fairer sex are not in any way left out of this character identification with characters from the middle-aged housewife through the feisty-but-dull teenager and back to to good ol' Old Dear - all smiles, reliable no matter what life throws at you.

Without giving too much of the story away, it's difficult to say any more, other than I voted this movie 8 out of 10 and if you do decide to watch it, feel free to complain to me if you don't enjoy it - I don't expect any complaints for this recommendation :-)

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 ****

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.