City Slickers

1991 Directed by Ron Underwood

Yesterday They Were Businessmen. Today They're Cowboys. Tomorrow They'll Be Walking Funny.

Three New York businessmen decide to take a "Wild West" vacation that turns out not to be the relaxing vacation they had envisioned.

Billy Crystal Daniel Stern Bruno Kirby Patricia Wettig Helen Slater Lindsay Crystal Jake Gyllenhaal Noble Willingham Jack Palance Tracey Walter Josh Mostel David Paymer Bill Henderson Phill Lewis Jeffrey Tambor Kyle Secor Dean Hallo Karla Tamburrelli Yeardley Smith Robert Costanzo Walker Brandt Molly McClure Jane Alden Danielle Harris Eddie Palmer Howard Honig Fred Maio Jayne Meadows Alan Charof

Alternative Titles

Kaupunkicowboyt, Stadens cowboys

comedy western

114 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by RetroHound ★★★★★ 4

Funny, touching, still as good as it was when I watched it in the theater with a young lady I would later marry. Our first movie date. Yes, she still married me even though I laughed way too hard and loud in the theater. And she's still married to me even though I still laugh too hard and loud sometimes.
Review by lauren ★½ 1

jake gyllenhaal's film debut, dare i say..........................a star is born
Review by Sam Meltzer🏳️‍🌈 ★★★½ 15

City Slickers is a great western comedy. I honestly enjoyed this way more than I thought I would, and it was a lot smarter than I thought it would be. All the performances are so much fun and so comedic. I loved Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby as the three main leads. The plot around them is interesting, and entertaining. It’s Jack Palance who provides the performance that is the core of the film, and his character Curly is so well written and just steals every scene. He may not have a ton of screen time, but his performance is a big part of the movie. The movie uses its writing to its advantage as it combines really…
Review by BrayMitch01 ★★★½ 1

✅77%
Lord we give you Curly, try not to piss him off
1991 Movies List- Click HERE
City Slickers is a very good comedy. I honestly didn’t expect for his movie to be that good but I was surprised that it’s was a film that was genuinely funny and had heart. The plot is good it’s entertaining and fun. The drama in it was surprisingly really good and interesting. The mid-life crisis format ether lands or doesn’t and it landed very well in this films case. The acting is good Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby give fun performances. Jack Palance gives a great supporting performance. I was surprised that he won the Oscar for best supporting actor but the…
Review by ✨Moviesfan123✨ ★★★½ 15

70%
City Slickers is a western comedy that is just a whole lot of fun. The film has a lot of heart. It’s not one of those mean spirited comedies that I feel have taken over recently. It’s really centered around these three characters and their adventure to become better people. Jack Palance gave a great supporting performance. Even though he was only in it for like 12 minutes he deserved his Oscar. I said what I said. The film was really funny. I had a great time watching it. It’s not amazing but it’s not trying to be and sometimes that’s the best thing a film like this can be. If you want a fun film to watch you should maybe consider checking this out. You’ll probably have a lot of fun. Overall City Slickers Is a really good comedy staring Billy Crystal.
What’s your favorite western?
🔙Hollywood Danny Rose
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Review by Wesley Stenzel ★★★½

Better than it has any right to be, City Slickers is one of the most aggressively 7/10 movies I’ve ever seen. It’s consistently funny but not hilarious, sweet but not overly emotional, and clever but not genius. Everything about this movie is above average and more than adequate, but not much about it stands out. The cattle-driving premise provides downtime for the characters to have surprisingly heartfelt conversations, and also serves as an avenue for realistic action involving a bunch of average guys.
This movie rides on Billy Crystal’s likability — if you’re not a fan, this ain’t for you, but if you are, then it’s a pretty fun time.
Review by megan ★★★

bby jake gyllenhaal ❤️💗🧡💜💗💙💚💓💙💗❤️💓🧡💛🧡❤️🧡💛💗💙💓❤️💛❤️🧡💕❤️💗💙💓💗❤️💛💗💙💗❤️💛💛🧡💕
Review by Andy Summers ★★★½ 2

Mid-life crisis' in movies usually revolve around married men buying sports cars or having affairs with women half their age. In Ron Underwood's charming film from back in 1991 we have three friends all going through their own little problems in their late thirties all hoping that their two-week adventure away from it all will bring the shine back into their lives. Led by Billy Crystal in fine form as Mitch Robbins, a married advertising executive lost in the middle of his own midlife crisis, this sees Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby accompany Crystal on an epic cattle-drive where they become cowboys for a fortnight. It's a journey of discovery for them all, with that fish-out-of-water flavour to things heightening…
Review by Daryl ★★★★ 2

Jack Palance's Curly is one of the greatest characters committed to celluloid.
However, that is only due to the fact that he is played by Jack Palance. His Oscar winning performance totally dominates this movie. And he is only in it for about 45 minutes. Every one of his exhales is delivered with brilliant timing and effortless cool. It is a joyous performance.
"I crap bigger than you."
Palance and Crystal work brilliantly together. Their chemistry are the catalyst for numerous brilliant moments. Film highlights. In truth, once Curly dies, the film has a gaping hole in it. And despite never actually disappearing into it, it never reaches the previous heights. But that's not a major criticism. We still get…
Review by Fake Shemp

Boring middle aged white men having a boring middle aged white male crisis.
Why did I even think I would enjoy this in any way shape or form?
Review by Travis Lytle ★★★★½

With its big heart, measured goofiness, and uptempo Western adventure beats, Ron Underwood's "City Slickers" is a robust comedy romp. Starring Billy Crystal as an adman looking for purpose, the film is thoroughly amusing, fully felt, and completely entertaining.
"City Slickers" focuses on Crystal's Mitch Robbins and his two pals as the trio heads to New Mexico to get out of New York City and find themselves as the three barrel toward middle age. Driving cattle allows the three men to hash out their domestic issues, deal with bullying cowboys, and figure out what is most important in their lives.
The comedy is spirited, but the narrative is smart enough to layer that comedy with solid emotion and an observation…
Review by Once upon a Tom in Hollywood ★★★★½ 3

Do you want to know what the secret to life is? This. One thing. Just one thing. You find that out and everything else don't mean shit.
Among my favorite westerns. Yeah, I know it's not a traditional one, but it's got laughs, camaraderie, beautiful scenery, little Jake Gylenhall, baby cow Norman, leathery Jack Palance, and a heaping helping of heart. That's more than enough to make up for the absence of poker, showdowns and whore houses, dontcha think?
Added to: Westerns Ranked

Recent reviews

Review by contifarts ★★★★½ 3

this movie was unhinged
Review by BrentWhitesides ★★★★

“Do you know what the secret of life is?”
This brings me back to my younger days when the VHS would stay on top of the tv cause I watched it so much. Billy Crystal is electric and the monologues hit heavier being able to relate with them now.
Review by Samuel Miller ★★★★

Three friends from New York City facing a midlife crisis travel west to find themselves, but soon find they're ill-equipped for the adventures that await them.
Old West synopsis:
Three friends tired of city life travel west to find themselves in the frontier, but quickly find they're ill-equipped for the adventures that await them.
This is one of those films that has become the movie you walk by many times and then realize you haven't seen it in twenty years, if at all. But it's a classic. It's the perfect pitch: three men from the city on a cattle drive. You could play around with the casting of the four major roles and still have a hit. It's peak Billy…
Review by Samuel Cisneros ★★★½

A group of men go on a wrangler’s vacation and band together to finish the job when tragedy strikes,
Back in the 90s this was THE movie to see and in the day I saw it and like it a lot. It seems to have disappeared from most peoples’ memory so when Hulu suggested it I jumped at it eagerly to see if it holds up. And it does, in a way. The banding together still works well and it was nice to see Bruno Kirby again. But a lot is mired in 90s sensibility and when the word “faggot” showed up I checked out a bit. Jack Palance is still The Man and I am glad I revisited it but the world has moved on and so have I. Still a lot to like here though. I’m just not as interested.
Review by Korinne ★★★½

This is up there as the sort of Man Buddy Movie I normally would avoid. I ended up picking it because I just really miss Billy Crystal? But it was almost surreal, Billy Crystal so young and thin.
Me: Jake Gyllenhaal is so young in this movie.
My mom, who had seen this before: That's not Jake Gruberhall.
Me: Yes it is.
The credits: Yes, it was.
Review by gavinevans ★★★½

Is it bad that I, a 24 year old, related to the midlife crisis that the main character was going through?
This movie is at its best when it’s discussing adulthood, their jobs, their families, what’s important to them, etc. This movie has a lot of depth to it. The characters are well developed. Billy Crystal is one of the most under-used comedians, he’s hilarious while bringing the right amount of heart to his performance, and he’s just so entertaining. Jack Palance is great, and so is the rest of the cast. I was surprised by how good the score was by Marc Shaiman, it added a lot to the movie.
Some of the actual plot at the cattle ranch didn’t do much for me and could’ve been better, but there’s still plenty here to really like. It’s funny, and I was actually moved by the ending. I really enjoyed this one.
Review by Cameron Brueggeman ★★★½

This was a good funny movie. A good time.
The main trio were good. That had great chemical and really seemed like they were old friends. I liked all of them (except for the adulterous parts). One of them was Marv from Home Alone!
I also liked the rest of our cast of characters. But I can’t believe the guy who played Curly got an Oscar for this. I mean he did a good job but an Oscar?? There was also a very young Jake Gyllenhaal in this for a few scenes.
The cinematography was nice. Desert western landscapes always look good. The direction supported the comedy well. I really liked the little animated opening credits sequence. That style is always…
Review by Kikachu ★★★

in my head i imagine that billy crystal visited norman at the petting zoo every Sunday after he was moved there
Review by Arturo Martin ★★★★½

Jack Palance performance is just worth it ....
Great comedy by Billy Cristal !
Review by juliarelova ★★★½

So, Alison Cohn and I watched City Slickers a while ago and I still can't stop thinking about the question "What is the meaning of life" and Curly's answer that everyone has their "one thing." Of course, I've been mulling over what my "one thing" might be... and right now, for the stage of life I'm in and with everything happening in 2020, I decided my one thing right now is connection.
Review by KatMurdock ★★★★

Was this film a deliberate comment on how Americans conceptualise masculinity? Or am I just reading too much into it, who knows.
Review by Rodg_Podg ★★★★

Day 339: This was one of those grown up movies I remember seeing as a kid, not really understanding but enjoying nonetheless. Particularly kid-me loved the animated title sequence and thought it was hilarious that Daniel Stern said "Bang" instead of shooting the bully.
As an adult I still enjoy it, but it does run a tad bit long. There's a few scenes that could have been trimmed up like the ice cream guessing game but overall it's a solid comedy with an actual story to tell.