Urban Cowboy

source: Urban Cowboy

I kind of enjoyed this movie. It would help if you are a fan of country music, honky tonks, drama, rodeo, and/or John Travolta. It helped spawn the Urban Cowboy movement of the early 1980's, and there was actually a plot! If you see it, you might like it. Travolta gives a pretty good performance. ** 1/2 out of ****

Having grown up in Texas, and less than 15 miles from what used to be Gilley's, I can tell you that this movie is nauseating. The majority of Texans do not live like this movie indicates. The plot is weak, and the fake accents are amusing, and it reinforces the stereotypical image that all Texans are beer drinking, honky-tonkin', rednecks. The horribly fake Texas accents is what kills it for me. True, there is a certain Texas twang to most Texans' accents, but these people overdo it. You can't get someone from New Jersey and Ohio to do Texas accents. It just doesn't work. John Travolta should have stuck to disco-dancing or the 50s. Debra Winger was more convincing as Wonder Girl than she is as a Texan.

This is a highly underrated movie. It has a decent plot, exceptional acting by John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, and supporting cast, and toe tapping pop country music throughout. Although the emphasis on mechanical bull riding is a little silly, the main characters are plausible in their motivations, their jealosies, and in the end, their abiding love for each other. The popularity of the movie to a wide section of America is proof that it is more than just a movie appealing "country" or "redneck" types. There's something about Debra Winger - her change of moods, her expressiveness, her vulnerability - where you just can't take your eyes off her when she is on camera. And the movie is downright fun with the Charlie Daniels Band, Travolta's Texas 2 step dancing scenes, and mechanical bull riding contests. There's no deep message to this movie, but it has a certain simple honesty about it, and it'll entertain you for its 2-hour duration.

This film is a classic compared to the Latham/Bridges/Travolta misfire called PERFECT which came out in 1985. This film showcases the Houston lifestyle of the oil boom in the early 1980s. We get an insider's view of their jobs, hangouts, and relationships as Travolta and the gang live out their daily lives. There are some excellent supporting performances here, but make no mistake: THIS IS TRAVOLTA'S SHOW! Who would have thought at the time he'd make such a credible Texan? You almost have to remind yourself this guy was one of the Sweathogs from Welcome Back Kotter. We get to see him dance, fight, ride a mechanical bull, and score with a number of hot women. What more could you ask for? I think this is his best performance to date. The soundtrack is one of the best I've heard. You won't hear any of this crappy pop-country that is en vogue today. It's just good old fashioned music you can dance or make love to. This film displays the downfalls of couples who get married too quickly in a very realistic manner. Bud and Sissy resemble a lot of young couples without big bank accounts who have trouble getting along. Scott Glenn makes a terrific villain, too. Do yourself a favor and see this one. Or see it again if it's been a while. Travolta could use a hit movie like this one right about now in his career. 9 of 10 stars So sayeth the Hound.

John Travolta applies a credible, bitter intensity to his role as Bud, unworldly kid who moves to Houston to live with relatives and work at a nearby plant, eventually discovering Gilley's Bar, country music, and a high-spirited local gal (Debra Winger) whom he marries. So much of this sophomoric drama seems familiar, and indeed the structure of the film (with Travolta coming of age--after doing some dancing at Gilley's, of course) comes off like "Saturday Night Fever" in western-dress. Still, as much as I disliked the stereotyped Brooklyn hard-boys in "Fever", with their hyped-up talk and trashy mouths, the characters in this picture are much more clichéd. Poor Scott Glenn gets the worst of it: first he's a rodeo rider from the prison, then he's working at Gilley's, then he's with Winger, then he's a woman-beater, then he's planning a heist...any one of these bad attributes would be enough, yet nobody seems to notice that Glenn's character is simply a "plot function". Winger shines in spots, and she's a hard worker, but one tires of her stridency and volatility; in the last act, when she's called upon to be victimized, she loses some of her radiance and we wish for that stridency back. The other performers get stuck with stock characters and the bar-scenes lack vitality, as does the soundtrack which is chock full of glossy country-fied pop. Near the finale, when Travolta and his uncle are called to the plant at night during a lightning storm, the viewer is ten miles ahead of the screenwriter. It's movies like this that sunk Travolta's career for years. ** from ****

For Urban Cowboy John Travolta plays one of the stronger alpha males ever portrayed on the big screen. He's a decent enough young kid who leaves his parent's homestead and strikes out for the big city of Dallas where his uncle Barry Corbin has promised to find him work in the petrochemical industry. In 1980 that was beginning to boom and Texas was definitely a growing place in the USA. Travolta does a good job in making we the audience care about his character who when you come right down to it is a sexist pig. He meets and marries Debra Winger who's from the same background, but she's got some ideas that women should not be shadows of their men. And when she beats him at Gilley's mechanical bull, a man's game, that's it for him. Scott Glenn who's an ex-convict is working at Gilley's and this film was his breakout role. He's a real snake in Urban Cowboy, he gets Travolta's goat with a mere look and he moves in on Winger. Travolta in turn takes up with rich girl, Madolyn Smith Osborne who's slumming at Gilley's. Despite the characters, Urban Cowboy was really one gigantic commercial for the self-styled biggest honky tonk in the world. Gilley's is no longer there in the suburban Texas community of Pasadena, but the memories do live on. And the best thing about Urban Cowboy is the wonderful score of country/western songs that were featured in the film. I'm not sure if some of the songs were not written specifically for Urban Cowboy, but it's the only reason I can think of why the Motion Picture Academy ignored the musical aspects of this film. I especially liked Johnny Lee's Looking For Love, if it was specifically written for this film, it's a disgrace that it wasn't nominated for Best Song. I liked Debra Winger's character best in this film. She doesn't lose a trace of femininity, but she stands up to Travolta and does it in style. And this review is dedicated to that yet as unknown woman who will one day be the first woman bull-rider in the Professional Bull Riders.

The cowboy Bud Davis (John Travolta) moves from his homeland of Spur to Houston to work with his Uncle Bob (Narry Corbon) in a refinery. During the night, they go to the Gilley's Club where Bob introduces his nephew to his friends. Bud meets Sissy (Debra Winger) at the club and soon they fall in love with each other and get married. Sissy is an independent working girl and Bud is a male chauvinist that believes in the traditional role of the wife, cooking, ironing and making love. When Gilley's buys a mechanical bull for the clients, Bud likes to ride it and does not allow Sisy to ride. However she goes to the club in the afternoon and the ex-convict and operator of the bull Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) teaches her how to ride. When Bud learns that Sissy lied to him, Bud becomes jealous and has a love affair with the wealthy Pam (Madolyn Smith) and Sissy goes to Wes' trailer. Along the days, they fight each other and try to make the other jealous. When Gilley's announces a mechanical bull's dispute, Bud wants to win Wes. Will he succeed? "Urban Cowboy" is a silly film with unlikable and immature characters. Bud Davis is an unbearable character and Sissy is immature and fool. But the music score and the dances are highly entertaining. In addition, it is delightful to see Debra Winger very young. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Cowboy do Asfalto" ("Asphalt Cowboy")

Okay, so I have come a long way from Houston by now, but whenever I see this movie, I am taken back to a little cowgirl's dream to one day ride the bull at Gilley's. (It burned down before I was of drinking age.) If you grew up in in East Texas, then you know this movie is an accurate depiction of contemporary life at that time. If you didn't then trust me and watch the movie. Either you will join the many who love it (and at the same time strangely repulsed), or at the very least, you can make fun of the red-necks. (There is plenty material for poking fun.) This movie doesn't try to be P.C. (what was that in the 80's) or hide the white trash element and it is honest to the time and place. Gotta be a 10 for me!

An unmarried, twenty-something hick (played by John Travolta) leaves the farm and goes to Houston, where he learns about life and love in a Texas honky-tonk. At face value, it's a modern love story ... Texas style. There's gobs of cowboy hats, pickup trucks, neon beer signs, and references to big belt-buckles and rodeos. The music, if not Texas native, is Texas adapted, courtesy of the talents of Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, and the Charlie Daniels Band. And that Texas twang ... "y'all". The story and the characters are about as subtle as the taste of Texas five-alarm chili made with Jalapeno peppers. It's enough to make civilized viewers abort the film in favor of a genteel classic, one starring Laurence Olivier or Ingrid Bergman, maybe. "Hamlet" it's not. But "Urban Cowboy" is spicy and explicit, and I kinda like it. Technically, the film is generally good. The dialogue, the production design, and the costumes are all realistic; the editing is skillful. And both the casting and the acting are commendable, if not Oscar worthy. I would not have cast Travolta in the role he plays, but he does a fine job ... ditto Debra Winger. Barry Corbin and Brooke Alderson, among others, are good too, in support roles. But, the cinematography seemed weak. The film copy I watched was grainy, and at times suffered from a reddish/orange tint, a visual trait I have noticed in other films from the same time period. At first glance, the film does not seem to offer any social or political "message". But I would argue that when "Urban Cowboy" was released twenty-five years ago, it had rather prophetic implications. In 1980 the U.S. had all kinds of problems, not the least being American hostages held by Iran. In the minds of a lot of folks back then, the U.S. was being pushed around, bullied. This film, along with others of its time, offered something that Americans wanted to see in their political leaders ... toughness. "Urban Cowboy" is a very physical film. The characters in it may not be the brightest people on Earth. But, they're tough! Everything about "Urban Cowboy" is anti-intellectual. As a vehicle for cultural expression then, this 1980 film was one of several that augured a new get-tough era for the U.S. It started in 1980 with the election of Reagan. And that era continues to this day, with a President who probably will not be remembered for his intellect, but will be remembered for his toughness and aggression, traits that Americans seem to gravitate to as surely as Texans to five-alarm chili.