THE REWATCHABLES · June 15, 2021
A 1991 comedy / western directed by Ron Underwood, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
The hosts love the post-trip banter, especially Billy Crystal’s and Bruno Kirby’s dad jokes.
About 24 minA favorite scene where Crystal’s character is confronted with the age-crisis idea.
About 32 minBruno Kirby’s monologue about his father is singled out as the strongest scene.
About 32 minCrystal and Palance’s quiet conversation is treated as one of the movie’s best emotional beats.
About 40 minBilly Crystal’s life-stages monologue is praised for its humor and structure.
About 48 minThe ice-cream menu matching gag is treated as an excellent comic set piece.
About 56 minThe Daniel Stern and cashier scene is called very funny and awkward.
About 32 minThe ending with the cattle refund is mocked as absurd and undercutting the danger the characters faced.
About 1:04WHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsIt is justified as a lifetime-comedy acknowledgement despite limited screen time.
Chris RyanThe win is understandable but mostly puzzling because he is barely in the movie.
Sean FennesseyThe category was weak, so the win makes some sense as a career honor.
Bill SimmonsThe death is a key structural choice but also feels like where the movie loses steam.
Chris RyanThe film could maybe have worked if Curly stayed alive longer.
Sean FennesseyThe death is the central test of the story and part of the script’s design.
Sean FennesseyHe was a reason to go see a movie and a major star in his era.
Chris RyanHe was like an all-purpose entertainment presence who played himself across media.
Bill SimmonsHis fame came from doing everything well, especially in public-facing formats.
Bill SimmonsThe Mets/Yankees story makes no sense given the film’s timeline.
Sean FennesseyThe script includes it because of real-life and/or comic-relief reasons.
Calls it a corny midlife-crisis movie that is incredibly rewatchable.
Opening minutesSays modern versions of this movie would be much darker or more contrived.
Opening minutesFrames it as the culmination of the yuppie-in-crisis comedy cycle.
About 8 minArgues Crystal is at his career peak here and one of the most important stars of the era.
About 8 minSays Crystal is a reason people went to the movies and mastered hangout-style scenes.
About 16 minPrefers the scenes where the men are just talking and joking on horseback.
About 24 minAcknowledges the performance is good but notes the Oscar came from a tiny amount of screen time.
About 16 minLoves Kirby’s alpha New Yorker energy and sees him as a major ingredient in the movie’s chemistry.
About 24 minCalls the Bruno Kirby monologue one of the film’s best scenes.
About 32 minAdmires the age-through-life speech as very strong scriptwriting.
About 48 minDescribes the film as well-shot and appropriately Western-looking despite its corniness.
About 40 minThinks the movie’s western-fish-out-of-water elements are the right kind of absurd.
About 48 minThe movie is framed as a Reagan-era/yuppie crisis story about successful men wondering what life means at 39.
Opening minutesThey argue that Crystal was a major star by the early 1990s because he could host, perform, and anchor movies while still feeling like himself.
About 16 minThe hosts admire how the movie mixes jokes with sincere emotional stakes instead of tacking on heart at the end.
About 8 minThe absurdity of normal men on a cattle drive is central to why the movie works.
About 24 minThey emphasize the pleasantness of hanging out with the characters, especially in conversational scenes.
About 24 minCity Slickers cost about $26 million and made about $180 million.
About 24 minJack Palance arrived in the film around the 35th minute and was gone by about the 53rd minute.
About 16 minCrystal says he came up with the movie after watching a TV show about middle-aged men on fantasy vacations.
About 1:04The hosts say 10 or 11 cows were used for Norman, the calf.
About 1:04They say the river-crossing and birthing scenes were hard to shoot because the cattle kept mounting each other.
About 1:04Billy Crystal’s real daughter Lindsay played his daughter in the film.
About 1:04Rick Moranis was originally cast as Phil before Daniel Stern replaced him.
About 1:04The hosts say Crystal was 43 during filming but played like a man in his late 40s or 50s.
About 48 minUsed as a key Billy Crystal comparison and as a predecessor in Crystal’s career arc.
About 8 minCited as another Billy Crystal film where he felt like a real buddy on screen.
About 16 minMentioned in Crystal’s career overview.
About 8 minCited as a story source for City Slickers’ basic setup.
About 1:04Used in the Jack Palance Oscar discussion.
About 24 minReferenced while debating the 1991 supporting-actor Oscar field.
About 24 minDiscussed as part of the odd Oscar nominee slate.
About 16 minReferenced as the film many thought Lawrence Fishburne should have been nominated for.
About 24 minUsed in a running bit about internet origin and the cashier actress Yardley Smith.
About 32 minReferenced in a comparison about city guys and baseball talk.
About 56 min · medium confidenceUsed to explain Billy Crystal’s early fame.
About 8 minDiscussed as a major turning point in Crystal’s career.
About 8 minPart of the 1991 Oscar discussion.
About 24 minMentioned as a major Oscar snub year.
About 24 minMentioned as another Oscar snub candidate.
About 24 minRepeated gag that this movie and era mark Crystal’s absolute peak as a star.
About 8 minThey tie City Slickers, Crystal’s Oscars hosting, and Palance’s win into one apex narrative.
About 16 minA recurring exaggeration that the film foretold modern internet culture.
About 32 minThe writers are humorously treated as a great comedy factory with a lot of output.
About 8 minCurly’s ‘one thing’ advice becomes a running philosophical joke about life priorities.
About 16 minBill repeatedly fixates on the impossible baseball backstory in Mitch’s monologue.
About 32 minThey invent a sequel/legacy-series idea with aging characters and a new cattle drive.
About 56 min“I'm as good as I'm ever going to look.”About 8 min
“Soon you'll be dating sperm.”About 24 min
“If you stick to that and everything else”About 48 min
“This movie is the fifth biggest movie”Opening minutes
“I'm on vacation. Shut the hell up.”About 40 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before City Slickers, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Chris RyanThe Rewatchables
Sean FennesseyThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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