City Slickers

source: City Slickers

City Slickers

City Slickers is one of Billy Crystal's best comedies, if not possibly his best. He plays a businessman who is going through mid-life crisis, as is his friends played by Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby. So, they decide to go on a cattle drive to try and get things together in they're heads. What shows is hilarious and interesting as well. A consistently and uproariously funny comedy that will be funny for others to watch in future years. The cow birth scene is most memorable scenes, but really memorable lines are scattered throughout. A

Billy Crystal was never sharper and funnier than in "City Slickers." His hilarious comments, and so many funny situations, make this a very funny and entertaining movie. Co-stars like Daniel Stern really make the movie. I question an Oscar for Jack Palance, since his role as Curly the wise, old Westerner, is a very typical type of character that was really not that unique. Nevertheless, Curly does add some important and fun aspects to this film. I really do not care for a lot of the racy and suggestive material toward the beginning of this film, involving Billy Crystal's friends trying to get him to leave his wife and such. At this point, I almost stopped watching the film, but luckily I decided to stick with it. The remainder of the film is nothing but fun. Some of my favorite scenes include Daniel Stern getting overly angry at one of the bullies and some hilarious comments made at the graveside. One reason I really liked this film was the good morals the film turned out, including Crystal's decision to do better at his job and be a better father and husband. This adds a very touching element to the film that ties it all together and makes "City Slickers" entirely worthwhile. The sex-related material toward the beginning and middle of the film makes it not necessarily appropriate or appealing for everyone. Watch with discretion, but know that the eventual lessons in the film are positive. *** out of ****

Billy Crystal and two pals star as the 'city slickers'. Urban East Coast folk tired with their lives looking to give them some meaning by winning the western wilderness. During their adventure, they're confronted by events and stuff that make them find their true natural selves. Sounds good on paper. But it isn't, really. It starts off fairly funny, but then replaces the funny with pure plot and morality, which aren't anything more than mediocre in quality. And the only real broader moral at the end really is: "if you're spoiled city scum, go hit some dirt and ride a horse for a week without your family and you'll return a refreshed husband and parent for about as long". 5/10.

"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.

I loved this thing as a kid. Loved it. Even the sequel. But that was the young me, the teenage me, the still stuck in the 80s me, the me who'd rent a movie every single day on VHS and watch any old 80s crap, whether it involved Steve Guttenberg, Bobcat Goldthwait, Eddie Murphy, or Billy Crystal. Oh dear, has this movie aged badly. And how about Billy Crystal? He is still doing an incredibly bad impression of Woody Allen, just as he did in 'When Harry Met Sally'. But he's not funny when he whines, just incredibly annoying, not to mention dishonest. I am not buying his whining the way I buy Allen's. That was the first thing that struck me as watched this film again, more than 20 years after the first time I saw it. There is nothing really funny in this film. The ice cream fatso? The irritating high-energy sidekick? The insecure, slightly dumb, introverted sidekick? Oh, what a motley crew it is, conflicts between these personalities is guaranteed to result in funny scenes, right? Fat chance. See, the best thing about this movie has always been that gritty old cowboy, and that's the only redeeming feature of this film. Take that away and you have a film that makes you want to commit suicide. That's how boring, predictable, and outright irritating it is. And just how easily manipulated were we to enjoy that cheap crap about a little calf? Please. Oh, one more thing: Is Crystal meant to learn something during this film? I certainly didn't. And neither did he, but let's pretend we all did. Audiences back then certainly didn't care about anything - not that we are any better today, mind you. We are so cynical that we don't even pretend to care about love and the meaning of life. I'm giving this film one star. I do not like it in any way.

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.

There really aren't enough good things I can say about this film. The story is absolutely fantastic, the acting is great, the cast is superb and the comedy is hilarious! The films' story is very entertaining and keeps you interested from the first second to the last. This is basically a film about finding out what is important in your life and what means the most to you...and also having a few good laughs along the way. Not only that, but there are actually quite a few touching scenes in this film as well. Also, just as a side note, I love the opening credits to this film. It isn't often that I can say that about a film. The director, Ron Underwood, really out-did himself with this film. I've seen 4 of his 6 theatrical films so far and absolutely LOVED 3 of them ("Tremors", "City Slickers", and "Mighty Joe Young", the fourth one, "Speechless", I have only seen once and I hardly remember it)! I can't wait to see his next work. All the cast members involved in this film were excellent in their respective roles. The main characters are played so well and have such great dialogue that you really feel like you know the characters. This is, without a doubt, one of my top 3 favorite films starring Billy Crystal (the others being "Monsters Inc." and "When Harry Met Sally"). Billy Crystal is absolutely hilarious in this film, I laughed incredibly hard the first time I saw the film (and still do). Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby play the perfect buddies to Billy Crystal in the film and really have great chemistry between the three of them. Jack Palance is another great touch in the film. The entire supporting cast was excellent as well, I won't get into each one though, because there are too many to list. This film also yields a very young, up and coming, Jake Gyllenhaal of "October Sky", "Donnie Darko", "Bubble Boy", "The Good Girl" and "Moonlight Mile". Jake does a great job as Danny Robbins. One other thing I think I should mention is the music in this film. All the music is perfect! You can tell that the music was chosen very carefully for particular scenes and it works so well. I really enjoyed all the music in this film. This is another one of those movies that I highly recommend to everyone! There are so many good things about this film, I strongly recommend you see it. I hope you aren't disappointed. Thanks for reading and happy viewing. -Chris