City Slickers

"Yesterday they were businessmen. Today they're cowboys. Tomorrow they'll be walking funny."

1991 1h 54m EN

😐

6.5

MID

🍅

84%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.8

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 916🍅84%Rotten Tomatoes●70Metacritic★6.8IMDB · 66,109

ComedyWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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

“Yesterday they were businessmen. Today they're cowboys. Tomorrow they'll be walking funny.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoBuy

Apple TV StoreBuy

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Billy Crystal
Mitch Robbins
Daniel Stern
Phil Berquist
Bruno Kirby
Ed Furillo
Patricia Wettig
Barbara Robbins
Helen Slater
Bonnie Rayburn
Lindsay Crystal
Holly Robbins
Noble Willingham
Clay Stone
Jack Palance
Curly Washburn

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ron Underwood
Writers: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Dick Lasley
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Spain

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Spain.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "City Slickers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ron Underwood, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor O. Nicholas Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ron Underwood directs. Dean Semler behind the camera. Marc Shaiman scores. O. Nicholas Brown cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Spain. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.6× over at the box office.
235 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Spain.
4Part of the "City Slickers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Ron Underwood, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor O. Nicholas Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Yesterday they were businessmen. Today they're cowboys. Tomorrow they'll be walking funny.".
11IMDB entry: tt0101587 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Semler
Original score: Marc Shaiman
Editing: O. Nicholas Brown
Production design: Lawrence G. Paull
Costume design: Judy L. Ruskin
Makeup / hair: Todd McIntosh
Sound: Kevin O'Connell
Stunt coordinator: Mickey Gilbert
Runtime: 114 min · 1h 54m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $27,000,000
Box office: $179,033,791
Return: 663% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: City Slickers (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes: 84% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 70/100
IMDB rating: 6.8/10 · 66,109 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 7 nominations total

Genesis Award
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

City Slickers Collection

City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, Helen Slater and Jack Palance. Palance won an Academy Award for his performance. It was shot in New York City, New Mexico, Durango, Colorado, and Spain. the death of their leader — is similar to John Wayne's The Cowboys. City Slickers was followed by a sequel, City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, in 1994, which is a comedy film directed by Paul Weiland. It stars Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Jon Lovitz and Daniel Stern. Shortly after their first western adventure, Mitch Robbins and his friends discover a treasure map that belonged to their late trail guide Curly and set out to discover its secrets.

Also by

Ron Underwood

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2020-08-27
★ 7/10
This is is a fairly funny movie. Billy Crystal’s character and two friends head out for a dude ranch for an adventure vacation. The jokes come vast and furious as do the sight gags. Jack Palance made a bit of a name for himself with his cowboy antics and one-armed pushups. My favorite scene had nothing to do with dude ranch stuff. Mitch (Crystal) is explaining how a DVD recorder doesn’t even require the tv to record a show, and his friend just isn’t getting it. It’s hilarious. This isn’t a movie classic or anything, but plenty entertaining enough.
CinemaSerf2025-01-17
★ 6/10
As their fortieth birthdays loom large and illustrate to "Mitch" (Billy Crystal), "Ed" (Bruno Kirby) and "Phil" (Daniel Stern) that their high-powered city jobs are ultimately quite unfulfilling, they decide to take up the challenge of herding some cows from Mexico up to Colorado. Completely unused to the wilderness, or indeed to anything without air-conditioning and comfort, they are put under the charge of the gnarly "Curly" (Jack Palance) who's disdain for this hapless trio is fairly clear from the outset. What chance they can adapt their city attitudes to cope with all that nature can throw at them? Well on that front there's not the slightest bit of jeopardy, it's all about their "journey". There, I think it will all depend on whether or not you like Billy Crystal's style of semi-slapstick comedy. I don't really and so wasn't particularly engaged as this sort of merged John Wayne with Laurel and Hardy. Palance looks like he's enjoying himself, and easily steals the show with his facial expressions conveying just as much as the rather predictable script. Stern also delivers quite entertainingly as they battle with the cattle and the snakes that rattle amidst some stunning New Mexico scenery that sets up the story perfectly. It's a story about recalibrating life and on that score it sends quite a powerful message about people stopping every now and again to appreciate what they had/have and to take stock of what they want to come next. That thrust epitomises the difference between the urban and the rural, their population's who do and those who talk about doing quite well - but the humour was just all bit lame for me and the whole thing takes too long to finish where I always thought it would.