Urban Cowboy (1980) Paramount/Drama-Western RT: 135 minutes Rated PG (language, brief nudity and sexual content, violence, drinking) Director: James Bridges Screenplay: James Bridges and Aaron Latham Music: Ralph Burns Cinematography: Reynaldo Villalobos Release date: June 6, 1980 (US) Cast: John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, Madolyn Smith, Barry Corbin, Brooke Alderson, Cooper Huckabee, James Gammon, Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Bonnie Raitt, The Charlie Daniels Band. Box Office: $46.9M (US)
Rating: **
I honestly don’t know what to make of Urban Cowboy, a western-flavored drama that promises an inside look at the urban cowboy culture of the late 70s/early 80s. It’s based on an article written by co-screenwriter Aaron Latham for Esquire Magazine about Texas oil refinery workers who lived out their cowboy fantasies on the weekend at a honkytonk bar called Gilley’s. Directed and co-written by James Bridges (The China Syndrome), Urban Cowboy is disappointingly superficial about the lifestyle it depicts. What is it about the cowboy lifestyle that attracts these people? We can surmise that it’s the atmosphere and energy of the music, but Bridges offers little in the way of insight choosing instead to focus on the relationship between two of the stupidest people I’ve ever seen.
John Travolta trades in his polyester suit and leather jacket for a cowboy hat and pair of boots to play Bud, a young man who leaves the family farm for big city living in Houston. He moves in with his Uncle Bob (Corbin, Six Pack) who gets him a job at his workplace, the local oil refinery. He also introduces Bud to Gilley’s, the legendary C&W joint owned by singer Mickey Gilley. This is where Bud meets Sissy (Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman), a young woman looking for a “real cowboy”. It’s the start of a toxic relationship.
I’d now like to mention that Bud is a truly vile human being. This is a guy who believes in traditional gender roles. The man is the king of the castle and the woman is his loyal subject. He has no problem using violence to get his point across either. He shows his true colors almost immediately by hitting Sissy on their first date. Understandably angry, she bolts and he goes after her. After another physical altercation, he asks her to marry him and she accepts. What does this tell you about Sissy? Yes, she’s an idiot. They get married and move into their own trailer where they settle into a life of work, sex and nights out at Gilley’s. That’s when the problems start.
When Gilley’s puts in a mechanical bull, Bud finds he has a natural talent for bull riding. Sissy wants to try it too, but Bud forbids her. She defies him and learns to ride it behind his back. When he sees her in action one night at the bar, he becomes furious that she lied to him. It leads to them splitting up and Sissy moving in with Wes (Glenn, Silverado), a violent ex-con out on parole who takes an immediate disliking to Bud. This is after Wes kicks Bud’s ass in a diner parking lot. ANYWAY, he’s an even bigger creep than Bud. You can tell by the mesh T-shirt. He’s also a puncher and I don’t mean time clocks. For his part, Bud gets involved with Pam (Smith, Funny Farm), an upscale woman with a thing for cowboys of lower economic status. He initially does it to make Sissy jealous, but Pam doesn’t seem to mind playing the part so he lets her stick around.
Basically, Travolta plays a variation on his Tony Manero character from Saturday Night Fever in Urban Cowboy only instead of disco, he dances a two-step. The two movies are remarkably similar right down to the unexpected death of a character and a big contest at the end. Instead of dancing, it’s a mechanical bull-riding contest. Of course, it’ll all come down to Bud and Wes at the end with the expected outcome. This is NOT a spoiler; we all know how these things always turn out, don’t we?
There are no likable major characters in Urban Cowboy. Bud and Wes are both abusive jerks. Sissy is an attention-craving dolt who makes only bad choices. Pam is a bitch whose only redeeming quality is knowing she’s a terrible person. The only significant character I liked is Uncle Bob, a decent guy and former rodeo rider who teaches Bud the finer points of riding a bull. Yes, I’m afraid Urban Cowboy includes a training montage a la Rocky. How cliched can you get?
Just because I don’t like the major characters doesn’t mean the actors didn’t turn in decent performances. Although I never felt any real chemistry between Travolta and Winger, they deliver pretty good individual performances. Nothing about Travolta says cowboy, but he’s incredible at playing vile characters like Tony Manero and Bud. The difference is that you don’t feel Bud has actually changed as a person by the end of Urban Cowboy. It may seem like it on the surface, but issues like the ones he has don’t go away without professional help. Although I have zero respect for her character, Winger brings a little bit of pathos to Sissy. You feel bad enough for her that you wish you could shake some sense into her about the men she loves. Glenn fares best as Wes, a real sack of crap that should never have been released from prison. I thought Texas was supposed to have a tough legal system?
To its credit, Urban Cowboy has a lot of great music by the likes of Gilley, Johnny Lee, Bonnie Raitt, Boz Skaggs and The Charlie Daniels Band who performs “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. The movie has this undeniable energy in the scenes in Gilley’s. I can see where people would be attracted to that lifestyle. That brings us back to the issue of lack of insight. Bridges fails to show the dichotomy between the lively fantasy cowboy life and the dreary reality of working at the refinery. Again, we can surmise such a workplace isn’t the happiest place on earth. Still, I wanted more depth from Urban Cowboy.
Finally, Urban Cowboy is just too long at 135 minutes. It drags in parts. It could easily lose about 20 minutes without changing the overall effect. I will say the final fist fight between Bud and Wes is cool. It’s the best part of the movie and the only part of the finale I believed. The movie is just okay which is a shame because it could’ve been great.
