The comedic masterpiece City Slickers debuted in theaters in 1991. The brain child of Billy Crystal, who starred in and produced the movie, City Slickers tells the illustrious tale of three men going through crises of character. To relieve themselves of their pain to do some soul searching, the men enroll in a traditional western cattle drive. The lure of being cowboys lead them westward, where they face trial and leave with life affirming success. City Slickers’s comedy revolves around the stereotypical western lifestyle and the life lessons Mitch, Phil, and Ed learn are based in the Western ideal of individualism. Childhood friends Mitch, Phil, and Ed are running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain in the beginning of City Slickers. Their …show more content…
The scenes filmed in New York are mainly close ups and tight shots. There are no sweeping views and the sets and costumes seem to only feature dull colors. This helps highlight the tension and apathy surrounding the men. When Mitch has his birthday party, Ed and Phil’s gift to him is a two week vacation to New Mexico, a chance to live out his childhood dream of being “Mitchy the Kid.” Though City Slickers is a comedy and can be taken lightly, it is interesting to look at how the three men begin their journey West. They are all firmly ensconced in the middle class. Their dreams of childhood, playing cowboys and baseball, have been smothered by the cut throat society of the East coast. Mitch fears he has lost his passion in life, recently married Ed is afraid of long term commitment, and Phil, who had an affair, has lost his wife, kids, and job. They feel that they are the outsiders of their society, tired of the status quo and desperately looking for an escape. It is reminiscent of the language used when describing the first westward pioneers: men who wanted to travel outside the established United States to find new success and