City Slickers

For other uses, see City slicker (disambiguation).

City Slickers is a 1991 American Western comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater and Noble Willingham, and Jake Gyllenhaal making his acting debut.

City Slickers
Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed by	Ron Underwood
Written by	Lowell Ganz Babaloo Mandel
Produced by	Irby Smith
Starring	Billy Crystal Daniel Stern Bruno Kirby Patricia Wettig Helen Slater Jack Palance
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Edited by	O. Nicholas Brown
Music by	Marc Shaiman
Production companies	Castle Rock Entertainment Face Productions Nelson Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	June 7, 1991 (1991-06-07)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$179 million

The film's screenplay was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and it was shot in New York City; New Mexico; Durango, Colorado; and Spain. For his performance, Palance won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

A sequel titled The Legend of Curly's Gold was released in 1994 with the same cast, with the exception of Kirby, who was replaced by Jon Lovitz.

Plot

In Pamplona, Spain, middle-aged friends Mitch Robbins, Ed Furrilo, and Phil Berquist participate in the running of the bulls. As they fly back in the airplane, Mitch tells Ed he is getting fed up with their road trips. A year later, back home in New York City, Mitch realizes he and his friends use adventure trips as escapism from their boring lives, since he despises his radio advertising sales job, Phil is trapped in a loveless marriage to his shrewish wife Arlene while managing his father-in-law's supermarket (who also bullies and humiliates Phil), and Ed is a successful and dashing sporting goods salesman who recently married a significantly younger woman but is unwilling to fully settle down.

At Mitch's 39th birthday party, Phil and Ed give Mitch a trip for all three to go on a two-week cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado. Phil's 20-year-old employee Nancy unexpectedly arrives at the party and announces she is pregnant with his baby, causing Arlene to walk out after a fight. Mitch's wife, Barbara, insists he go on the cattle drive to soul search for a new purpose in his life.

In New Mexico, the trio meet ranch owner Clay Stone and their fellow cattle drivers: entrepreneurial brothers Barry and Ira Shalowitz, young and attractive Bonnie, and father-son dentists Ben and Steve Jessup, ranch hands Jeff and T.R., and Cookie the cook. Mitch confronts Jeff and T.R. when they begin sexually harassing Bonnie. Trail boss Curly intervenes, though he inadvertently humiliates Mitch.

During the drive, Mitch accidentally causes a stampede which destroys the camp. While searching for stray cows, Mitch discovers Curly has a kind and wise nature beneath his gruff exterior. Curly encourages Mitch to discover the "one thing" in his life that is most important to him. Along the way, Mitch helps deliver a calf from a dying cow. Mitch names the calf Norman. Shortly after, Curly suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving the drive under Jeff and T.R.'s control. Cookie accidentally gets drunk and inadvertently destroys the food supply, breaking his leg in the process.

After the Jessups leave to take Cookie to a nearby town (being more qualified because of their medical training in dentistry), Jeff and T.R. become intoxicated with Cookie's secret stash. A fight ensues when they threaten to kill Norman and assault Mitch. Phil and Ed intervene, and Phil holds Jeff at gunpoint, which unleashes his pent-up emotions. Soon after, Jeff and T.R. abandon the group. Bonnie and the Shalowitzes continue on to the Colorado ranch, while Ed and Phil remain behind to finish the drive. Mitch also leaves but soon returns to rejoin his friends.

After braving a heavy storm, they drive the herd to Colorado. When Norman nearly drowns as the herd crosses a river, Mitch acts to save him. Both are swept down current, but Phil and Ed rescue them. They safely reach the Colorado ranch. When Stone offers to reimburse everyone's fee, the Jessups prefer going on a future cattle drive. However, Clay reveals he is selling the herd to a meat-packing company. Mitch, Phil, and Ed initially believe they saved the cattle for nothing, but decide to use their experience to help re-evaluate their lives.

The men return to New York City. Mitch, a happier man, reunites with Barbara and their two children; he has also brought Norman home as a pet. Phil, having learned his employee is not pregnant after all, begins a relationship with Bonnie. Ed intends to start a family with his wife. Mitch is ready to restart his life with a new vision.

Cast

• Billy Crystal as Mitch Robbins
• Daniel Stern as Phil Berquist
• Bruno Kirby as Ed Furillo
• Patricia Wettig as Barbara Robbins
• Helen Slater as Bonnie Rayburn
• Jack Palance as Curly Washburn
• Noble Willingham as Clay Stone
• Tracey Walter as Cookie
• Jeffrey Tambor as Lou
• Josh Mostel as Barry Shalowitz
• David Paymer as Ira Shalowitz
• Bill Henderson as Dr. Ben Jessup
• Phill Lewis as Dr. Steve Jessup
• Kyle Secor as Jeff
• Dean Hallo as T.R.
• Karla Tamburrelli as Arlene Berquist
• Yeardley Smith as Nancy
• Robert Costanzo as Sal Morelli
• Walker Brandt as Kim Furillo
• Molly McClure as Millie Stone
• Jane Alden as Mrs. Green
• Lindsay Crystal as Holly Robbins
• Jake Gyllenhaal as Danny Robbins
• Danielle Harris as Classroom Student
• Eddie Palmer as Classroom Student
• Howard Honig as Skycap Guy
• Fred Maio as Doctor
• Jayne Meadows as The Voice of Mitch's Mother
• Alan Charof as The Voice of Mitch's Father

Production

The film's plot, which consists of inexperienced cowboys battling villains as they press on with their cattle drive after the death of their leader, was conceived to be similar to John Wayne's The Cowboys, although that was a Western drama as opposed to a comedy.

In his 2013 memoir, Still Foolin' Em, Billy Crystal writes of how the casting of the film came about. "Palance," he says, "was the first choice from the beginning, but had a commitment to make another film." He wrote that he contacted Charles Bronson about the part, only to be rudely rebuffed because the character dies. Palance got out of his other obligation to join the cast. Rick Moranis, originally cast as Phil, had to leave the production due to his wife's illness. Daniel Stern was a late replacement in the role. The film was also the debut of actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, City Slickers received an 89% rating based on 44 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a supremely talented cast and just enough midlife drama to add weight to its wildly silly overtones, City Slickers uses universal themes to earn big laughs." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale of A to F.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half out of four, and wrote: "City Slickers comes packaged as one kind of movie – a slapstick comedy about white-collar guys on a dude ranch – and it delivers on that level while surprising me by being much more ambitious, and successful, than I expected. This is the proverbial comedy with the heart of truth, the tear in the eye along with the belly laugh. It's funny, and it adds up to something."

Awards and honors

Jack Palance, for his role as Curly, won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which was the only Oscar nomination the film received. His acceptance speech for the award is best remembered for his demonstration of one-armed push-ups, which he claimed convinced studio insurance agents that he was healthy enough to work on the film. Billy Crystal was the Academy Awards host, and used the humorous incident for several jokes throughout the evening. Later that night, Palance placed the Oscar on Crystal's shoulder and said, "Billy Crystal ... who thought it would be you?" Crystal added in his book, "We had a glass of champagne together, and I could only imagine what Charles Bronson was thinking as he went to sleep that night." The next year's Oscars opened with Palance appearing to drag in a giant Academy Award, with Crystal (again the host) riding on the opposite end.

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Jack Palance	Won
American Comedy Awards	Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)	Billy Crystal	Won
	Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Bruno Kirby	Nominated
		Jack Palance	Won
		Daniel Stern	Nominated
Artios Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Comedy	Pam Dixon	Nominated
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards	Top Box Office Films	Marc Shaiman	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Jack Palance	Nominated
Genesis Awards	Best Feature Film		Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Billy Crystal	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Jack Palance	Won
MTV Movie Awards	Best Comedic Performance	Billy Crystal	Won
People's Choice Awards	Favorite Comedy Motion Picture		Won

The film is also recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #86
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • Mitch Robbins: "Hi, Curly, kill anyone today?"

Curly: "Day ain't over yet."

– Nominated

• 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated

The film is ranked No. 73 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

In popular culture

• The Billy Crystal episode of Muppets Tonight featured a parody entitled "City Schtickers", with Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear in Kirby and Stern's roles.
• Funny or Die produced a mash-up short that combined the film with the 2016 HBO series Westworld that featured Crystal and Stern.
• In American Dad! season 8, episode 1, "Love, AD Style", Roger Smith implies that one of his disguises is Lowell Ganz when he states, "I co-wrote City Slickers with Babaloo Mandel but I can't do this" in regard to poorly running his bar.

External links

• City Slickers at IMDb
• City Slickers at Box Office Mojo
• City Slickers at Rotten Tomatoes