A shorthand for this one could be country Saturday Night Fever, which is what some folks used at the time. A young man works a menial job by day and storms the local bar scene at night looking for a good time, meeting women, dancing and trying to figure out his identity. It also stars John Travolta and there’s a contest finale with our lead training hard aiming for the gold. So yea, pretty similar.
Travolta (Domestic Disturbance) plays Bud, a
transplant from rural farmland to the big city looking for work (hence “urban
cowboy” as opposed to “plain ol’ cowboy”).
His uncle hooks him up with a job at an oil refinery where he’s glad to
be given the opportunity to start at the bottom so he can climb his way up the
ladder. He works hard and plays hard
spending all his free time hitting the area bar scene with tenacity. I mean his first night in town he lands a
threesome! His second night he falls in
love! He’s not all workin’ and fuckin’
though. There’s nuance to the character
that unfurls with time. At first glance
you’ve seen this type of hard headed personality before where he’s quick to
start a fight, says dumb shit like “you don’t know what hard is” and asserts
dominance over his wife. When he’s
pleasant he’s your best friend but when he’s riled up he can’t be reasoned
with. Later on we see a change in Bud, a
slow change but a change nonetheless. He
starts to display commitment to a new found hobby, doesn’t fly off the handle
quite so fast and accepts some life lessons handed to his ass. And Travolta does a nice job putting all of
this together. He’s affable, driven, a
dick, loving, cruel, etc. The important
thing is by the end of the movie he grows by learning from his mistakes which
Travolta definitely pulls off.
Sissy is played by Debra Winger (Forget Paris) who
spots Bud the night he arrives. She
doesn’t approach him until night two where the pair proceed to dance
harmoniously, talk, drink and smoke the night away. She’s not a prissy girly girl who cakes on
makeup and wears frilly dresses. She
sports jeans and tank tops and works as a mechanic for her father. She’s a strong woman who forges her own path
and doesn’t take a lot of shit from anyone.
For instance when Bud lightly slaps her in the face during a tickle
fight she doesn’t appreciate that at all and lets him know. Winger is so good and engaging and believable
in the role. Her happiness and sorrow
are felt deeply in all her scenes. And
she and Travolta have really great chemistry (which is the lynchpin for the
whole damn thing) so by the end you’re anxious to see these two work their shit
out and ride off into the night together.
Editing brings the whole package together by combining
awesome music with the right moments.
For the jovial times high energy country is the ticket. Quicker cutting and wider dancefloor shots
give these scenes plenty of vigor while known acts like Bonnie Raitt and The
Charlie Daniels Band blast their tunes (and this was back when country music
rocked hard overall (while somehow incorporating instruments like pedal steel
and fiddle fairly effortlessly) and artists and performers would pick spots in
their songs to insert poppier elements like the funky adjacent breakdown in “The
Devil Went Down to Georgia”). Slower
steamier moments make use of dissolves, spinning camera shots and songs like a down
tempo cover of “Stand By Me” by Mickey Gilley (indeed the soundtrack was an enormous
hit that included a bunch of heavy hitters like Joe Walsh, Jimmy Buffett, The
Eagles and Bob Seger). Furthermore, a
couple of times we get scenes effectively intercut to contrast what’s going on
in Bud and Sissy’s lives at that exact time.
For instance when Bud slips and dangles from a scaffolding hundreds of
feet up wondering if he’s going to die we’re also shown Sissy having a ball being
taught how to ride the mechanical bull. Agony and ecstasy interwoven. Beautiful.
And during a few of the mechanical bull riding rounds the shot stays on
the rider without cutting away for the full eight seconds to drive home just
how ridiculously hard and long that can seem.
All good editing tricks.
A fishnet shirt may not define you as an urban cowboy, but it will set you apart |
This is a damn fine picture.
There’s a lot to like across the board.
It’s the kind of film that spends the first half hour simply hanging out
with the characters, soaking up the vibe and doesn’t worry about the main
portion of the plot until later. Plus it
takes just as long to introduce the mechanical bull, the pivotal MacGuffin that
kick starts everyone’s problems.
It’s also the kinda film that includes a very sexual dance
done on the mechanical bull while in motion causing some yahoo to yell out
“better than a vibrator, ain’t it!” You
know, if that sways you one way or the other.
No comments:
Post a Comment