Urban Cowboy

Urban Cowboy (1980)

Runtime: 134 minutes

Directed by: James Bridges

Starring: John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, several real-life country & western stars, as my parents would say

From: Paramount

Travolta was Looking for Love... or as Buckwheat would say, “Wookin' pa Nub.”

It took me longer than expected to feel like watching movies again once I got back from my whirlwind Christmas vacation; I was not at 100% and among other things, several episodes of TV shows I was unable to view had to be streamed so I could catch up. Now I should have a more regular schedule and this movie was seen due to an unexpected anecdote that was shared by my father which does relate to Urban Cowboy. Note that I've known of the movie since I was a little kid, as my parents had the bestselling soundtrack... on 8-TRACK. Yes, they had an 8-track player which still worked at the time.

The plot isn't overly complicated: John Travolta plays Bud, a typical Texan from a small town who moves to Houston in the attempts to earn a job at an oil refinery. He stays with his uncle and a rapid romance develops once he visits Gilley's, a real-life nightclub in nearby Pasadena named after country music singer Mickey Gilley. Debra Winger plays Sissy, the love interest; she is independent while he is “more traditional” when it comes to gender roles, which somehow makes this seem modern in 2020... they get married before they really even know each other so of course problems arise.

Admittedly, it is a little silly-at least 40 years after the fact-that the big event which drives the engine of the plot is... a mechanical rodeo bull. Now, it's a wacky sort of thing you see at honky-tonks that is mainly rode by drunk people as a gag; at this time though, it was a new gimmick and at the very least, it was a conduit to drive a wedge between Bud & Sissy, along with introducing a villain in Scott Glenn; you know he's a heel as when he first appears at Gilley's, his outfit is jeans, a black hat... and a black mesh t-shirt. He was in great shape so I guess I'd show it off too.

It is easy to compare this w/ Saturday Night Fever, for some obvious reasons. I mean, both are even loosely based on non-fiction magazine articles. I can say that the two have upbeat soundtracks that sold very well and those that haven't seen the films may think they are light frothy things concerning frivolous events. Instead, they are serious and cover mature topics... Saturday Night Fever more so but this still has things to say about such things as relationships, pride, jealousy, and obsession. The movie takes its time, which works here as Urban Cowboy has time to tell its story and the characters to express everything they should. The cast as a whole is fine, but the highlights were the leads; I also have to mention Madolyn Smith as “the other woman”. Naturally, plenty of time is spent with the soundtrack, and while country isn't my favorite genre, the songs you hear are top-notch and fitting for the setting. I can't complain about seeing the Charlie Daniels Band in the film or hearing a few of their tunes.


This was a better time than I expected. The reason this was even seen was due to a story that my dad told. One scene early in the movie introduced Glenn's character; he is a convict in the Huntsville, Texas prison and he is riding a rodeo bull in the Texas Prison Rodeo. It may seem like poppycock but from the 30's until 1986, prisoners all over Texas who behaved could go to Huntsville and compete in a rodeo, held each Saturday in October. Various events were had and it was held to raise money for the prison system. My dad explained that in 1974 he and his buddies went to it one Saturday; he had already graduated from college in Illinois but he went to Houston to earn another degree. He had a good time; the halftime entertainment was... Dolly Parton. They always had big country stars perform there. It wasn't 1980 when she was mainstream and this movie had a scene where there was a Dolly impersonation contest; my dad doesn't listen to “country & western” so that was the first he had heard of her, let alone seen her. As she always joked about her “assets”, it's not entirely gross for me to mention that the biggest impression Parton left on dad & friends was not her music!