Urban Cowboy


Urban Cowboy is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford "Bud" Davis and Sissy. The film's success was credited for spurring a mainstream revival of country music. Much of the action revolves around activities at Gilley's Club, a football-field-sized honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas.

Plot

Buford "Bud" Davis moves to Pasadena, Texas for an oil refinery job where his uncle, Bob Davis, works. Bud wants to earn enough money to buy land near his hometown of Spur. While staying with Bob and his family, Bud embraces the local nightlife, including Gilley's, a popular Pasadena bar and nightclub.
There, Bud meets fellow Gilley's patron, Sissy. They marry soon after and buy a mobile home, settling into a routine of working during the day and socializing at Gilley's at night. Bud enjoys riding the mechanical bull, but when Sissy wants to try, Bud forbids it.
Wes Hightower, a recently paroled convict and prison rodeo champion, is hired to operate Gilley's mechanical bull. One evening, a drunken Bud becomes enraged when Wes flirtatiously tips his hat at Sissy. A fist fight ensues, with Wes besting Bud. Wanting to impress Bud, Sissy secretly spends time at Gilley's where Wes teaches her how to ride the mechanical bull. When Sissy successfully rides the bull, Bud is angry that she defied him. During Bud's ride, Wes intentionally swings the bull around hard, breaking Bud's arm. At home, Bud and Sissy argue. She claims that Bud is jealous because she rides the bull better than him, causing Bud to slap Sissy and throw her out of their mobile home. Some nights later, Bud sees Sissy at Gilley's and gives her a smile, but she ignores him. Bud angrily retaliates by dancing with Pam, the daughter of a rich oilman. Bud makes sure that Sissy sees them leaving together. Sissy moves in with Wes, who lives in a run-down trailer behind Gilley's.
Bud, unable to work while wearing an arm cast, wants to compete in Gilley's upcoming mechanical bull riding rodeo contest for the $5,000 prize. While Bud is training with his uncle, a former rodeo champion, Sissy stops by the mobile home to collect her belongings. While there, she cleans and leaves Bud a note saying she hopes they can get back together. Pam arrives as Sissy is leaving. She finds Sissy's note and throws it away. Bud arrives and thinks Pam did the cleaning. Sissy returns to Wes's trailer and catches him with Marshalene, who works at Gilley's. After Marshalene leaves, an angry Sissy throws a cigarette carton at him. Wes slaps Sissy and forces her to fix him a meal.
Bob urges Bud to reconcile with Sissy, citing how he nearly ruined his own marriage. Soon after, Bob is killed in a refinery explosion, devastating Bud. At the funeral, Sissy tells Bud that Wes was fired from Gilley's, and they are leaving for Mexico after Wes wins the contest.
Bud plans to skip the contest but changes his mind after his Aunt Corene insists that Bob would want him to compete. Bud out-scores Wes to win, but he is disappointed that Sissy is not there to see his victory. Pam realizes that Bud still loves Sissy and admits that it was Sissy who cleaned the mobile home and left him a note. Pam urges Bud to reconcile with Sissy before it is too late. As Sissy waits in her car, Wes sneaks into Gilley's main office armed with a pistol to steal the prize money. Bud finds Sissy in the parking lot and says that he loves her and apologizes for being stubborn and hitting her. After they reunite, Bud sees Sissy's bruised face. Furious, he goes after Wes. A fight ensues outside the bar. Wes drops his gun, and the stolen money falls from his jacket. Wes is apprehended while Sissy swears she knew nothing about Wes robbing the bar. She and Bud go home together.

Cast

The film's screenplay was adapted by Aaron Latham and James Bridges from an article by the same name in Esquire written by Latham. The original Esquire article centered on the romance between two of Gilley's regulars named Dew Westbrook and Betty Helmer. Westbrook and Helmer's relationship became the inspiration for the romance between John Travolta's and Debra Winger's characters "Bud" and "Sissy". The movie was directed by Bridges. Some film critics referred to the movie as a country music version of Saturday Night Fever. The film grossed almost $47 million in the United States alone and represented a temporary recovery for Travolta from 1978's poorly received Moment by Moment, but the film was not nearly as successful as either Saturday Night Fever or Grease. While filming Urban Cowboy, Travolta had a private corner at the Westheimer Road location of the Ninfa's restaurant chain in Houston. Urban Cowboy was the first motion picture to be choreographed by Patsy Swayze, which launched her career as a film choreographer.

Critical reception and legacy

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 70% "Fresh" rating based on 23 reviews. "Urban Cowboy is not only most entertaining but also first-rate social criticism," said Vincent Canby of The New York Times. Variety wrote: "Director James Bridges has ably captured the atmosphere of one of the most famous chip-kicker hangouts of all: Gilley's Club on the outskirts of Houston."
The film gave Pasadena and Houston a brief turn under the Hollywood spotlight. Andy Warhol, Jerry Hall and many other celebrities attended the premiere in Houston. Mickey Gilley's career was revived after the film release, and the soundtrack started a music movement.
As a result of the film's success, there was a mainstream revival of country music. The formal grid dancing style used in the film, adapted from square dancing to give a clear visual display of choreography to an audience, birthed the phenomenon of Line Dancing, which is now the defining term and method for teaching and categorising many dance styles which predated it, from country dance to swing. The term "Urban Cowboy" was also used to describe the soft-core country music of the early 1980s epitomized by Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Johnny Lee, Mickey Gilley, Janie Frickie and other vocalists whose trademarks were mellow sounds of the sort heard in the movie. This sound became a trademark in country music from the early to mid '80s, in which record sales for the genre soared. The ingenious impactful weaving of highly accessible country music into the film's dramatic soundtrack fabric was largely attributable to the skills of music industry impresario Irving Azoff, who co-produced the film with Robert Evans.

Soundtrack

The film featured a hit soundtrack album spawning numerous Top 10 Billboard Country Singles, such as #1 "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee, #1 "Stand by Me" by Mickey Gilley, #3 "Look What You've Done to Me" by Boz Scaggs, #1 "Could I Have This Dance" by Anne Murray and #4 "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers. It also included songs that were hits from earlier years such as #1 "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band and "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles. The film is said to have started the 1980s boom in pop-country music known as the "Urban Cowboy Movement", also known as Neo-Country or Hill Boogie. In December 2018, the soundtrack was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for sales of three million copies.

Proposed TV series adaptation

On May 28, 2015, it was announced that 20th Century Fox Television had teamed with Paramount Television to adapt Urban Cowboy into a television series, and set Craig Brewer to write and direct the pilot, as well as to executive produce the whole series. Chris Levinson was set as the showrunner and would also executive produce the series, along with Robert Evans and Sue Naegle. In December, Fox cancelled the pilot. On February 1, 2022, it was announced that a television adaptation was in development at Paramount+, with James Ponsoldt serving as director and co-writer alongside Benjamin Percy. There has been no new information since then.