GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

eric262003 By the time you reach your forties, you start to have this belief that your days of fun and celebration could be winding down and fast. Yes for middle-aged men, "City Slickers" is not about lacing up your saddles dressing up cowboy duds and have an adventure out in the Wild West. It's about getting to enjoy as much about life while you can before it's too late. Even though it may have a cynical approach that middle-aged people are through with having fun according to the characters, "City Slickers" contradicts that approach by saying that happiness begins at forty and doesn't stop there. It also features an engaging performance by the underrated Jack Palance who also got his long overdue Oscar Award for Best Supporting Actor as Curly Washburn.Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) is hit the dreadful age of despair, 39. He fears there is more he could've done in life and fears he will never get that chance because of his advanced age. He's not alone in this as his friends Phil Berquist (Daniel Stern) and Ed Furillo (Bruno Kirby) feel the pinch as well. So the trifecta embark on a two week sabbatical to redeem themselves by saddling up their horses and ride off into the Old West from New Mexico to Colorado. They are led by an experienced cowboy named Curly (Palance) who shows them how it's done and gives them a life's lesson about the meaning of life while driving cattle to the open country.Even though the story is rich in character and performance, the plot is actually quite weak and predictable. We know that the triad will learn that that midlife isn't the be all to end all in the cycle of life. The real fun underlies within the interaction between the city folk and the country folk and though it might be a bit stereotyped from both party members, Curly's lessons about life lingers the whole way through.The juxtapose of witty comical banter and slapstick moments are carries the film in its entire 1 hr. 52 min. duration. The laughter is always there and holds up like a stampede can be caused due to the sound of a coffee grinder or the cynical gripes from Billy Crystal's Mitch. And sure the set pieces are there for a surreal goofy film that lampoons the Western genre, it all seems to be in place like it was intended to be. This may be due to the trio's realization that they had a good thing coming for them all along and that they are novice ranchers and are not cut out to hold this job. It never feels one-sided and gives equal balance between the witty banter and slapstick quality this movie has making it feel more organic and less forced.When it comes to who utilizes their acting chops at best Billy Crystal was perfectly cast as the lead role by using his cynical wit to his best capacity while succeeding in a deadpan delivery. Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby are great as the unlucky Phil and the philandering Ed respectively. The trio offer their own blend of humour as they work off their humour upon each other as they each stand out on their own. The chemistry works splendidly for each other and the jokes and the humour makes the pacing of the film flow so much easily.As the smoke clears, the mass will truly say the scene-stealing performance is Jack Palance's performance as Curly. With his menacing smile and his frontier knowledge, this has been a role he has played over the course of his 60 year career. Not to undermine him in any way some of the more funnier scenes are when he's yakking it up with Billy Crystal. It's a bit questionable if Palance deserved an Oscar win in this role due to the fact he was Oscar-worthy in other performances.("Shane" and "Sudden Fear" come to mind), nonetheless his role as Curly was fun.To say that the film was dated would be a cliche on my part, but why lie about it? The clothes, the style and the trends are permanently locked in the early 1990's. Also the humour is a lot more lighter in tone even though there is some swearing, but it's handled with precaution. The delivery has a sweeter tone (not overly sugary) but tamer than compared to most comedy themed film you get today.In a nutshell, "City Slickers" manages to successfully convey a great lesson in life and by adding a humourous take on it. That way it wouldn't go off as being preachy or self-serving. It's not the most original script and does feel 1990's stamped, but with comedic performances from Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby, along with the enjoyable performance by Jack Palance, this movie is a winner.

Benedito Dias Rodrigues Tasteful comedy driven to trained audiences from hollywood success formula, the story is compeling with Daniel Stern overcame the power comedians trio,Criystal although be a top billing is unfunny,bad jokes,Jack Palance is another highlights of the casting,died early unfortunately,the sequel is much better!!Resume:First watch: 1998 / How many: 3 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 7

namashi_1 'City Slickers' is A Wholesome Entertainer, that is indeed an American classic from 1991. A lovely comedy, that is also about friendship & maturity. The first-rate performances only add to the film's greatness.'City Slickers' Synopsis: On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.'City Slickers' is a complete joyride. Its a funny film, treated lightly & quietly. Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel's Screenplay focuses primarily on comedy, but also covers themes of friendship & maturity. Its wonderfully written! Ron Underwood's Direction is absolutely fantastic, churning out a worthy story with such perfection. Cinematography captures the wilderness, amazingly. Editing could've been sharper. Performance-Wise: Billy Crystal is a delight, a true genius. He's exemplary! The Late/Great Jack Palance, in an Oscar-Winning Performance, is restrained. Daniel Stern is fabulous. The Late/Great Bruno Kirby is effective. Patricia Wettig is very sincere. Helen Slater is decent. David Paymer & Josh Mostel are crazy.On the whole, 'City Slickers' is so much fun!

Steve Pulaski 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.