Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Midnight Cowboy is a supposed classic that I figured was about time that I watched to see for myself.
The film is about a wannabe cowboy named Joe Buck (Jon Voight) from Texas who moves to New York City to become a gigolo. Joe becomes friends with a sick and crippled con man named Ratso Rizzo. Both men struggle for survival living on the streets.
The film was directed by John Schlesinger and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Sylvia Miles, Bob Balaban, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Ruth White, and Jennifer Salt.
This movie did not really seem like it would appeal to me. The only reason I wanted to watch it was to see Hoffman and Voight before they were really famous. It didn’t look good and the storyline didn’t interest me at all.
I hated this movie. It was terrible. That might annoy some people because somehow Midnight Cowboy managed to win 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. But, I don’t care. Midnight Cowboy was a joke.
The only decent things about the film were Dustin Hoffman’s performance, the scenery of New York City in the 1960s, and the movie’s theme song “Everybody’s Talking at me” by Harry Nilsson.
The rest of the film was stupid, messed up, a little disturbing, and most of all, pointless. It is the misadventures of two low-life wannabe hustlers. An uneducated man travels across the country on a bus to prostitute himself. It does not sound good and it is not good, plain and simple.
True Grit (1969) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) were both far more deserving of an Academy Award for Best Picture that year. The fact that Midnight Cowboy won is a travesty.
I rate this movie a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? RUN!
Posted on September 4, 2013, in Classics Movie Reviews, Don't Watch This Movie, Drama Movie Reviews and tagged "Everybody's Talking at Me", Academy Award, Bob Balaban, Brenda Vaccaro, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Dustin Hoffman, Harry Nilsson, Jennifer Salt, John McGiver, John Schlesinger, Jon Voight, Midnight Cowboy (1969), movie, Ruth White, Sylvia Miles, True Grit (1969). Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
So glad you watched it! What a classic. I thought the chemistry between Hoffman and Voight was outstanding.
Hoffman did a great job. I just hated the movie though. I’m glad that I can say I watched it even though I didn’t like it. Thanks for commenting Cindy!
Saw this a few years ago and really, really hated it. I’m dreading having to watch it again to see all the Best Picture Winners 😦
It just goes to show that often the Academy doesn’t know what they are talking about.
happens more often than many would like to admit. Shakespeare in Love (1998) over Saving private Ryan (1998)?
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) over The Dark Knight (2008)?
Chicago (2002) over The Pianist (2002)?
Tom Jones (1963) over anything else???
need I continue?
🙂
Completely agree with all.