John Travolta traded in disco duds for a cowboy hat in this corny love story about a working man who breaks up with his girlfriend (Debra Winger), then plays out their relationship's turmoil inside a huge honky-tonk called Gilley's. The story essentially parallels Travolta's prior hit film, Saturday Night Fever, in its blend of ordinary life, incomplete relationships, and personal pride channeled into niche stardom at a neighborhood club. But for all its regional flavor, Urban Cowboy never enjoys the immediacy and urgency of Fever, and after awhile you can't help but feel bemused by the macho silliness of ongoing "mechanical bull" competitions (basically a faux rodeo device only brave men can master at great chiropractic risk). The Travolta-Winger relationship is pure soap, as well. But this film really is a kind of time-capsule piece on a lot of levels--notably Travolta's career and late '70s Western kitsch--and while it's silly, it's certainly not disagreeable. --Tom Keogh
2.
John Travolta and Debra Winger star in this cowboy version of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, in which all the action takes place at Gilley's country-western bar, a rough-and-tumble honky-tonk in the heart of Houston. Travolta plays Bud, a young country farmer who moves to the city to find work at an oil refinery and finds love with Sissy (Winger), a cowgirl of easy virtue and spirit. The two country-western singles fall in love on the dance floor of Gilley's and quickly marry only to discover that their workaday life is harder to cope with than they imagined, lightened only by hard-drinking weekends of glory at Gilley's, where they're both local heroes, line-dancin' and struttin' their stuff until dawn. In between crowd-pleasing rides on the club's mechanical bull, Bud and Sissy struggle to keep their new romance alive despite the competitive attentions of a new cowboy in town, a bull-riding ex-convict (Scott Glenn) who has his eye on Sissy. James Bridges's hard-driving drama glimmers with the intensity of the super saloon, capturing the wild and rough life of the modern cowboy. The soundtrack features musical performances from such greats as Bonnie Raitt, Mickey Gilley, Boz Scaggs, Kenny Rogers, and the Charlie Daniels Band.
3.
Widescreen Collection
John Travolta is the Urban Cowboy, breakin' hearts and bustin' mechanical bulls in one of his most electrifying film roles. By day, Bud Davis (Travolta) toils at a Texas oil refinery; at night, he trades his hard hat for a Stetson and heads to Gilley's, Houston's most popular nightclub. There, he meets a pretty two-stepper named Sissy (Debra Winger) who thinks Bud is a "real cowboy." But Bud's got to prove it when a dangerous ex-con (Scott Glenn) schemes to rob Gilley's and steal Sissy's heart. Travolta and Winger make an unforgettable screen couple in this compelling, Texas-sized look at a country western way of life. Featuring a hit soundtrack and musical appearances by Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Bonnie Raitt and The Charlie Daniels Band.
4.
Bud Davis is a country boy who moves to the city to visit his uncle. He starts hanging out at Gilley's, owned by Mickey Gilley himself. He takes a job at the refinery where his uncle works. He also meets Sissy, a cowgirl, and they fall in love and suddenly get married. And then their marriage is shattered when Bud sees Sissy allegedly seeing con man Wes, who teaches her how to ride the mechanical bull...and plans to rob Gilley's. When a bull-riding contest is announced, Bud decides to sign up. Can he win the contest and save his marriage to Sissy?
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