Urban Cowboy (1980) User Reviews (113)

Days In The Oil Fields, Nights At Gilley's

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 9 February 2009]

For Urban Cowboy John Travolta plays one of the stronger alpha males ever portrayed on the big screen. He's a decent enough young kid who leaves his parent's homestead and strikes out for the big city of Dallas where his uncle Barry Corbin has promised to find him work in the petrochemical industry. In 1980 that was beginning to boom and Texas was definitely a growing place in the USA.

Travolta does a good job in making we the audience care about his character who when you come right down to it is a sexist pig. He meets and marries Debra Winger who's from the same background, but she's got some ideas that women should not be shadows of their men. And when she beats him at Gilley's mechanical bull, a man's game, that's it for him.

Scott Glenn who's an ex-convict is working at Gilley's and this film was his breakout role. He's a real snake in Urban Cowboy, he gets Travolta's goat with a mere look and he moves in on Winger. Travolta in turn takes up with rich girl, Madolyn Smith Osborne who's slumming at Gilley's.

Despite the characters, Urban Cowboy was really one gigantic commercial for the self-styled biggest honky tonk in the world. Gilley's is no longer there in the suburban Texas community of Pasadena, but the memories do live on. And the best thing about Urban Cowboy is the wonderful score of country/western songs that were featured in the film. I'm not sure if some of the songs were not written specifically for Urban Cowboy, but it's the only reason I can think of why the Motion Picture Academy ignored the musical aspects of this film. I especially liked Johnny Lee's Looking For Love, if it was specifically written for this film, it's a disgrace that it wasn't nominated for Best Song.

I liked Debra Winger's character best in this film. She doesn't lose a trace of femininity, but she stands up to Travolta and does it in style. And this review is dedicated to that yet as unknown woman who will one day be the first woman bull-rider in the Professional Bull Riders.

Bud hard to like

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 3 July 2016]

Bud Davis (John Travolta) is a simple small town kid who moves to Houston and lives with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin)'s family. He gets a low level job at the refinery with Bob's help. He starts hanging out at Gilley's Club where he meets Sissy (Debra Winger). They have a fiery combative date and quickly get married. They move into a trailer park. Bud is traditional but Sissy is independent. Bud likes to ride the mechanical bull at Gilley's. Released convict and rodeo bullrider Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) impresses Sissy with his skills. He teaches her after Bud forbids her to ride.

It's hard to like Bud especially at the beginning. It takes awhile for him to build some vulnerability. I never really get to a point where I'm rooting for this couple to stay together. It's the first leading role for Debra Winger and she shows her great feistiness as well as vulnerability. Gilley's is very well represented. That cowboy way is nicely done. It would be great for this movie to be shorter and for Bud to not be so much of a jerk. It would allow for better rooting interest. I don't particularly care who wins or who gets together by the end. Although I definitely want Sissy to get out of her troubled life.

He's left the mirrorball for the honkeytonk

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 20 April 2020]

There's a part of me that wishes I was cognizant in 1980 when the "Urban Cowboy" craze hit; just to experience the hype if nothing else (I saw it in utero, but that doesn't count). As it stands, this is best viewed as a cultural curiosity; a snapshot both of Travolta in his prime and the Western craze. It's that star power that helps the film retain its potency for decades after the fact. The camera belabors that point with the shot of its lead actor posing against the bar, beer in hand, intensity smoldering (they even used that on the poster to sell tickets).

If we're talking substance, hell there's not much. The allure of bull-riding is lost on me and the men in this movie are absolute pigs. Watching Debra Winger go from one loveless abuser to another is a real drag, and she tends to be the film's sympathetic core.

I can't blame anyone for not being able to relate to this movie if their first watch is in 2020, but I can appreciate the mark it made in its time.

An entertaining period piece. Travolta shines.

[TOMASBBloodhound · 28 August 2003]

This film is a classic compared to the Latham/Bridges/Travolta misfire called PERFECT which came out in 1985.

This film showcases the Houston lifestyle of the oil boom in the early 1980s. We get an insider's view of their jobs, hangouts, and relationships as Travolta and the gang live out their daily lives.

There are some excellent supporting performances here, but make no mistake: THIS IS TRAVOLTA'S SHOW! Who would have thought at the time he'd make such a credible Texan? You almost have to remind yourself this guy was one of the Sweathogs from Welcome Back Kotter. We get to see him dance, fight, ride a mechanical bull, and score with a number of hot women. What more could you ask for? I think this is his best performance to date.

The soundtrack is one of the best I've heard. You won't hear any of this crappy pop-country that is en vogue today. It's just good old fashioned music you can dance or make love to.

This film displays the downfalls of couples who get married too quickly in a very realistic manner. Bud and Sissy resemble a lot of young couples without big bank accounts who have trouble getting along.

Scott Glenn makes a terrific villain, too.

Do yourself a favor and see this one. Or see it again if it's been a while. Travolta could use a hit movie like this one right about now in his career.

9 of 10 stars

So sayeth the Hound.

Unlikable and Immature Characters

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 17 September 2016]

The cowboy Bud Davis (John Travolta) moves from his homeland of Spur to Houston to work with his Uncle Bob (Narry Corbon) in a refinery. During the night, they go to the Gilley's Club where Bob introduces his nephew to his friends. Bud meets Sissy (Debra Winger) at the club and soon they fall in love with each other and get married. Sissy is an independent working girl and Bud is a male chauvinist that believes in the traditional role of the wife, cooking, ironing and making love. When Gilley's buys a mechanical bull for the clients, Bud likes to ride it and does not allow Sisy to ride. However she goes to the club in the afternoon and the ex-convict and operator of the bull Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) teaches her how to ride. When Bud learns that Sissy lied to him, Bud becomes jealous and has a love affair with the wealthy Pam (Madolyn Smith) and Sissy goes to Wes' trailer. Along the days, they fight each other and try to make the other jealous. When Gilley's announces a mechanical bull's dispute, Bud wants to win Wes. Will he succeed?

"Urban Cowboy" is a silly film with unlikable and immature characters. Bud Davis is an unbearable character and Sissy is immature and fool. But the music score and the dances are highly entertaining. In addition, it is delightful to see Debra Winger very young. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Cowboy do Asfalto" ("Asphalt Cowboy")

Vinnie Barbarino does the Texas 2 Step

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 27 March 2002]

I bellied up to the bar expecting this to be a hot beer on a sweltering Texas day but was pleasantly surprised. After suffering through "Saturday Night Foolishness" I had no desire to see a re-make in some south Texas barnyard....and I didn't. John Revolta was good as the jealous redneck, Scott Glenn was well cast as a thuggie ex-con, and Debra Winger was, as always, a delight. *Love that woman* Plus, the soundtrack was dynamite [and this comes from a guy that can't stand the sound of country music]. A fun film all the way.

Who's bed have your boots been under?

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 13 October 2017]

RELEASED IN 1980 and directed by James Bridges, "Urban Cowboy" is a drama starring John Travolta as mid-Texas young man who moves to Houston to work at the oil refineries. In his spare time he goes to the local Country bar where he meets babes (Debra Winger & Madolyn Smith) and rides the mechanical bull. Scott Glenn plays his rival while Barry Corbin & Brooke Alderson appear as his amiable uncle and aunt.

It's overlong by at least 20 minutes and the alcohol-obsession & bed-hopping shenanigans get tedious, but I like the docudrama style. The film takes its time and successfully puts you in the C&W subculture. The plot's predictable, showing the best & worst in human behavior, yet leaves you with a good feeling. There's a likable simplicity and honesty to the people, despite their less savory sides (i.e. the alcohol/cigs & bed-hopping). The movie scores well on the female front, mostly of the tight jeans & t-shirt variety (naturally), fronted by Winger with her girl-next-door cuteness and followed by Smith with her drop-dead-gorgeous ambiance. Connie Hanson appears as the striking redhead. The final act features the Charlie Daniels Band and you can't go wrong with them.

THE MOVIE RUNS 132 minutes and was shot in the Houston area of Texas (Dear Park, Pasadena & Huntsville) and Pico Rivera, California (Mobile home park). WRITERS: Bridges & Aaron Latham wrote the script based on Aaron Latham's story.

GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

Skip this one

[ThomasColquith · 3/10 · 8 August 2021]

I had hoped that there was more to this film than mechanical bull riding, but unfortunately that is the bulk of the movie. Skip this one, too long, too boring, depressing characters with cursory plot and characterizations, however there was some good country music played. Alternate titles: violent men and the women who love them, or cheatin' and beatin' in Texas. Just pitiful -- 3/10.

** Note, for a good movie of this sort, I would recommend "Every Which Way but Loose" from 1978, or "Flashdance" from 1983. Though I could see how persons from Texas or that lifestyle could view "Urban Cowboy" as a microcosm of their experience, but for me, a northerner, it just didn't work.

Like it or not, fiction it ain't

[mreed · 10/10 · 6 January 2000]

Okay, so I have come a long way from Houston by now, but whenever I see this movie, I am taken back to a little cowgirl's dream to one day ride the bull at Gilley's. (It burned down before I was of drinking age.)

If you grew up in in East Texas, then you know this movie is an accurate depiction of contemporary life at that time. If you didn't then trust me and watch the movie. Either you will join the many who love it (and at the same time strangely repulsed), or at the very least, you can make fun of the red-necks. (There is plenty material for poking fun.) This movie doesn't try to be P.C. (what was that in the 80's) or hide the white trash element and it is honest to the time and place.

Gotta be a 10 for me!

Not of fan of country music but I loved this movie

[childers-3 · 7/10 · 30 October 2017]

I hadn't seen this movie in over 20 years, but it was on TV this weekend and I sat down and watched it. I remembered why I loved it. It's not rocket science or brain surgery, but it is solid entertainment with some really great performances. The story is simple enough: Girl meets boy, Girl marries boy, Girl wants to ride the new mechanical bull at the local many-acred honky tonk, girl loses boy, boy..... well, you know what I mean. The plot is simple but effective. I loved the dynamic between the 4 leads. They were excellent. Scott Glenn has never looked better and seethed with bad boy sexuality. He'd be great for a one- night hookup, but he's a little too dangerous and cruel to keep, but oh boy, was he sexy as hell. Call the movie silly, a guilty pleasure, something to be dismissed, but it is great entertainment and the performances of all involved made it something special. To me, anyway.

Cringeworthy film portraying violence as the solution to problems

[johnnyrobot-11028 · 3/10 · 15 August 2020]

Cringeworthy, watching this 1980 movie in 2020. John Travolta's character Bud is violent, jealous, & petty. He meets Kitty, who is portrayed to be an independent woman with ideas of her own because she works at a job and wants to ride the mechanical bull at the bar everyone in town goes to every night. They date for about one week, and should be clear to her that he is hot tempered. He slaps her in a fight, they wrestle in a dirty puddle in a parking lot, and naturally the next step is to get married and move into a trailer together. At every step, I hoped she would come to her senses and run. Spoiler: She does run at one point, and starts living with convicted bank robber Wes, and so Bud starts seeing another random woman to make her jealous. When Bud discovers that Wes has beat Kitty, (no man hits my wife but me) he goes after Wes in one final fist fight, receives the glory of inadvertently stopping Wes from getting away after robbing the bar, and everyone cheers as Bud and Kitty are back together.

If this is what real men were like, why would anyone want them? The conclusion of the movie may have made sense if Bud had changed, but the movie did not show this. He solves his problems with violence. His heart-felt apology to Kitty goes "all the way back to the very first time I hit you." Gee Thanks, we're all good now.

How Can You Not Like This Movie???

[rkerns6938 · 9/10 · 11 October 2005]

First let me say I am not from the south but I am an American. I don't love Country music but I can stomach it. I would never wear a cowboy hat but I wear hats. I don't live in a trailer but I do eat tuna salad and own a home. What does that have to do with this comment? A lot if you are one of those people who say only "country" people love this movie. This movie is loosely based on the "They loved and lost" premise. James Bridges directs an American love story as real as it gets. In an era of Jerry Springer and "Lets put it out there" mentality, this film rings truer than ever.

Bud is "coming of age" and embarks on a life of his own with a little help from his aunt and uncle so he moves to the big city with them. Bud finds himself drawn into the local honky tonk world for the only escape a blue collar man can afford. He quickly meets Sissy who is from a similar background and the two have a whirlwind romance filled with painful ups and downs.

(*This plot takes so many turns that one has to just sit for a few minutes before they get hooked. Marriage is a focus here that is often missed. Early in the film they marry and we view the transition from being single to married. The film highlights some of the modern struggles a woman has when she marries an old fashioned man. It also brings into view the male ego with women and competition.)

Bud is challenged and is excited when Micky's puts in an electronic bull. Sissy gets ideas of having fun on it too but is quickly reminded that she is married and need to start "acting like it." The emotion between the two characters is raw and expressive and the plot continues from there especially when they (NOTE THIS IS GIVING SOME OF THE STORYLINE AWAY) split and Sissy falls for an ex con with a penchant for abuse and cruelty. She soon realizes that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

How anyone can compare Bud to Vinnie Barbirino is shocking to me. John Travolta gave an exceptional performance that was worthy recognition. He was believable and real. The scene where he shaves his beard and you first see him at the bar..still gives me goosebumps. Mind you I am not a huge Travolta fan, but come on, I see why Sissy was kicking of her boots so early in the film. Deb Winger was so real that you found yourself sympathizing with her as she pens a note of emotions to Bud, after sneaking in to clean his house during their break up.

The supporting cast was incredible. Wes played by Scott Glenn gave a first rate performance that made you hate him and curse him as he abused Sissy. Madolyn Smith-Osborne, as Buds Mistress/girlfriend was so authentic that large chested girls across the U.S. prayed to wake up flat chested to wear the clothes she donned in the film. My biggest kudos's go to Barry Corbin and Brooke Anderson as Bud's aunt and uncle. They seemed like someone's aunt and uncle somewhere in Texas and however small their role, they made the film so much bigger and lifelike. Two memorable scenes were the Dolly Parton contest and the unforgettable scene where Bud and his aunt stand outside after one of the characters death. The dialog between them is touching.

If you can watch this for what it is, a true American love story. Then I recommend that you take it for what it is...a film before it's time that gave us voyeurism into a world unlike our own but real enough for our enjoyment and entertainment. If this world sounds similar to yours then you will enjoy it so much more. Lastly, the music however dated, is sure to send you back in time if you are over 30 years of age.

Break out your cowboy boots and have a boot-scootin' boogie!

[SinjinSB · 7/10 · 20 November 2002]

John Travolta, the biggest honkeytonk in the world, and a mechanical bull...what more can you ask for! Yeah, you're probably not going to get many surprises or deep meaning in this one. Yet, I have always found it fairly enjoyable to watch this redneck romance. Bud (Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger) meet at Gilley's and fall in love. They have all the difficulties you might expect a hardcore redneck couple to have. The honkeytonk scenes are fun with dancing, mechanical bull riding, and -of course- the required brawls. It has a good, 1980 country soundtrack, featuring "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places", "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and "Hello Texas" by my favorite Jimmy Buffett. Break out your cowboy boots and have a boot-scootin' boogie!

*** (Out of 4)

urban boredom...

[mcfly-31 · 3/10 · 19 September 2010]

I'm sure this film is gospel to several East Texans, but for us city folk, it's just a wholly meandering slog of a movie. I sort of liked how a studio took a chance to show how "the other half lives," complete with country-western bars, trailer life, cheatin', beatin', and cussin'. But as a feature-length film, it was just one, giant void. For these people's lives to revolve around such trivial, blank issues was too much to take. The mechanical bull loses its charm after the third go 'round, and to find out that they were going to use it for the finale's plot device?? Boy, this really is small town life.

Though chronically dull, it at least tackles the elements of domestic violence --- from both the villain's *and* the hero's perspectives. The cast was fine, nothing' wrong with them. Their material was just vacant. And the time line is an utter mess for all this crap to have transpired (dated a week, married a week, cheating within a week! Please). The only thing remotely valuable to come from this film was the beautiful Boz Skaggs ballad, "Love Look What You've Done To Me." There's a mess a' other country hits, as well, that at least help keep uninterested viewers awake. As far as the flick, I found *one* original moment, and that didn't happen until the last reel, involving Glenn and a gun.

Again, if you grew up around this lifestyle, you might feel it speak to you more. But 'round these parts, this pretty much need to be takin' out back and shot.

entertaining

[jacksonc · 4 March 1999]

Fairly accurate look at Houston country subculture in the late 1970s. Glenn, Travolta, and Winger don't make the mistake of trying to use a Texas accent. Most Hollywooders who do so make the accent too broad and wind up with a southern accent, not a Texas accent. No, they are NOT the same thing. Barry Corbin has it. Ben Johnson had it (yes, I know he was from Oklahoma, but that's close enough.)

A Bit Corny but Still Entertaining

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 29 March 2017]

"Bud" (John Travolta) is a young man who leaves his home in West Texas to try to find a job at an oil refinery in Houston. One of the first things he does is go to a famous nightclub known as Gilley's where he meets a young woman named "Sissy" (Debra Winger) and they fall for each other immediately. They soon get married and just about every night they go back to Gilley's to have a good time. Then one night the management of the nightclub puts in a mechanical bull and their lives are changed forever. Now if this plot sounds a bit corny that's because it really is. But it manages to capture the flavor of that particular area during that particular time due in large part because of the country music which was so popular back then. No doubt, there are probably plenty of viewers who won't care for this film as it is clearly dated to a specific time in America--and I fully understand that. Be that as it may, it brought back some good memories and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Raging Mechanical Bull

[TheFearmakers · 7/10 · 10 April 2019]

Another soundtrack film with John Travolta after disco and 1950's rock paid off, James Bridges' URBAN COWBOY is a character-driven, intentionally plotless melodrama with a ripped-muscular Scott Glenn as an ex-con who winds up Travolta's rival: adding Pseudo-Sport to the genre involving a mechanical bull, bumping and grinding inside an immense Texas barroom where the title's first half derives throughout a beer-soaked, Country Music blaring, wooden-neon interior.

Before the opening credits, Travolta's a small town guy with a nice suburban family, a cowboy hat, an unfitting beard: And thanks to his uncle, after landing a Houston-set tough guy oil rig gig and bedding down two models at the hot-spot, Gilley's, he's quickly married to pretty barfly Debra Winger who's really more a bickering best friend, providing the two affable leads an old fashion chemistry that's bound to fall apart at the seams: And things really begin as their relationship sours: When she learns from Glenn how to ride the bull, and he finds selfish solace with poor little rich girl, Madelyn Smith, the movie finds its groove...

With non-stop tunes readymade to both backup the story and serve a roman chorus to the inevitable, predictable conclusion, this is a country music soap opera celebrating city/country life with greasy fingers: Only Travolta doesn't exactly look like a bonafide Texan (Dennis Quaid was originally considered); and his sexist, wife-slapping jerk seems contrived to fit the usual good-old-boy cliché. But he puts his whole shallow heart into the matter, which is exactly enough here.

Had it on Laser Disc when I was 6.

[sbrooke1980 · 7/10 · 8 October 2023]

I was born in 1980 and watched this so much as a kid that even though I generally don't like country music and am not attracted to the Texas "Cowboy" persona, I will never not love this movie. I had it on VHS and my husband bought it on DVD for my 28th birthday, and now I own it digitally. I have tried to get my now-adult children to watch it with me to understand the greatness that is Urban Cowboy but they won't sit past the first few minutes. It is totally their loss.

The acting is great from the 4 main characters and the supporting cast is amazing as well. Regardless of your taste in music you will likely know and love most of the songs featured. It is not PC, and there is domestic violence that makes it hard to root for Bud, but there's no way you don't root for both Travolta and Winger. This is a hidden gem for those looking for a guilty pleasure you haven't seen and may not have given a chance. One of my all time favorites. Maybe for nostalgic reasons, but if you give it a chance you will probably love it, too.

Not Growing Up In Texas

[rdg45 · 4/10 · 16 May 2020]

The story of cowgirls and cowboys in Junior High School and how they would act if they could drive a car and go to a bar.

What a sound track !

[caspian1978 · 8/10 · 12 March 2001]

The music in this movie is worth renting alone. You also get John Travolta and Debra Winger in a wonderful story about bull riding, beer, and finding true love in Texas. The two kiss scenes with John and Debra are classics. The first one on the dance floor makes you want to get up and dance. The final kiss scene completes the film with a happy ending. Even if you're not a "hick" check out this film.

Did John just take Tony from Saturday Night Fever and turn him into a cowboy?

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 12 October 2006]

I always passed up at Best Buy the John Travolta collection, it had Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Urban Cowboy. Saw the first two, but never Urban Cowboy, but my mom just picked it up in a $5.00 bin and I'd figure to give it a chance. Since it seems like it was such a big hit for him. Urban Cowboy is kind of a fun movie, but what I wouldn't call a great film.

It's about a cowboy named Bud, well, turned into a cowboy. He's come down to Texas to work with his uncle. But he ends up meeting a sassy young beautiful girl, Sissy. They hit it off and get married, but end up finding out how different they are and not to mention Bud kind of takes Sissy for granted and treats her badly, in my opinion. They meet two other people, Wes, a cocky cowboy intending to take Bud's bull riding champion title away from him, and Pam, a city girl who is interested in getting herself a cowboy. But can these two just swallow their pride and admit that their "good" together?

Over all, Urban Cowboy is a memorable film for John Travolta and I can see why he was such a heart throb in his day. He was tough and not to mention very hot looking, him and Debra did make a cute connection through the film. Like I said though, I had little problems, mostly with the way the women are treated, but I know it was a movie. Over all, a fun one, so I'll be nice.

6/10

Cynical "Saturday Night Fever" retread...with cowboy hats

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 16 May 2004]

John Travolta applies a credible, bitter intensity to his role as Bud, unworldly kid who moves to Houston to live with relatives and work at a nearby plant, eventually discovering Gilley's Bar, country music, and a high-spirited local gal (Debra Winger) whom he marries. So much of this sophomoric drama seems familiar, and indeed the structure of the film (with Travolta coming of age--after doing some dancing at Gilley's, of course) comes off like "Saturday Night Fever" in western-dress. Still, as much as I disliked the stereotyped Brooklyn hard-boys in "Fever", with their hyped-up talk and trashy mouths, the characters in this picture are much more clichéd. Poor Scott Glenn gets the worst of it: first he's a rodeo rider from the prison, then he's working at Gilley's, then he's with Winger, then he's a woman-beater, then he's planning a heist...any one of these bad attributes would be enough, yet nobody seems to notice that Glenn's character is simply a "plot function". Winger shines in spots, and she's a hard worker, but one tires of her stridency and volatility; in the last act, when she's called upon to be victimized, she loses some of her radiance and we wish for that stridency back. The other performers get stuck with stock characters and the bar-scenes lack vitality, as does the soundtrack which is chock full of glossy country-fied pop. Near the finale, when Travolta and his uncle are called to the plant at night during a lightning storm, the viewer is ten miles ahead of the screenwriter. It's movies like this that sunk Travolta's career for years. ** from ****

Glory Days of The Energy City.

[jwrowe3 · 8/10 · 16 May 2003]

PERSONAL NOTE: I saw this movie in the Palms Theater, in Sugar Land Texas, in August 1980, with my high school girlfriend. The theater, and the girl, are both long gone.

Back to the review....

For those of you who grew up, or lived in and around Houston during the 70's, this is a delight to watch. I tend to endure Travolta, and that horrid "twang" he tries to do, but it's okay, the rest of the flick makes up for that!

-Minor Spoilers-

We start the movie w/Bud coming to town. Just watching him drive thru Houston, thru the 610 loop, and on to his Uncle's place is a treat. There is the Houston of "Big Oil and Big Space". When I was little, and went on vacations, if some one asked me where I was from, their next question was "Do you have a ranch, own an oil well, or know astronauts?" That was part of the joy of being from Houston, back in the old days.

But I'm rambling. The casting on URBAN COWBOY is great, not a dud in the bunch, even counting the Travolta factor. Only he could have pulled this movie off, at the time it was made. On a side note, it was common practice during the filming of "UC", for the local media to have a "Travolta Sighting" comment on the news, or in the newspapers. The biggest spotting occurred in mid 1979 at the sports arena, known at the time as "The Summit". Travolta appeared, in "the white suit" from Saturday Night Fever at a Bee Gee's concert, and hopped up on stage. No one recognized him at first, as he had grown a beard for the opening parts of the movie.

If you grew up around Houston during this long-past era, this is a "MUST OWN". My daughters always ask if I ever rode a mechanical bull when we watch it.

But I have always wondered about one small thing in this picture. And this is simply 'cause I am a car geek. Why, at the end of the movie when Bud and Sissy drive away from Gilley's, is there, parked amongst the F-150's, GMC's, Chevy Big 10's, and other pick-up trucks, a Volvo P1800 wagon? You can't miss it.

Must see country ......

[Adarsh_Kumar_Singh · 7/10 · 24 September 2019]

Came so many times under my list ... the 6 something rating did not help ... hence somehow I missed it all this time. Boy, am I glad i finally saw this tonight. My only qualm is that ... they could have done this within a much shorter span !! For what it is ... specially the music, the taps, the rage.... and in the end .. commitment .... must see. 6.5 out of 10, 7 if this would have been 20 minutes less.

So bad, it's good

[leighpc · 2/10 · 27 January 2008]

This movie is SO bad, it's good. It's like a train wreck -- you know it's awful but you just can't look away. However, I cringe when I see people here call this thing "the classic American love story." Since these two lovebirds, Bud and Cissy, spend most of the movie arguing and fighting with each other and Bud also being physically violent with Cissy and other people, what does this "classic American love story" really have to say about American love relationships? Not much that is good! Apparently, in Texas all disputes must come to blows. I cannot image these two characters living happily ever after. The next fight is probably always just around the corner for these two. Oh, and the soundtrack...what a piece of redneck Americana. Yeeehaaww!