Directed by:
John SchlesingerScreenplay:
Waldo SaltCinematography:
Adam HolenderComposer:
John BarryCast:
Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Bob Balaban, Paul Morrissey, Taylor Mead (more)VOD (2)
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One of the British New Wave’s most versatile directors, John Schlesinger came to New York in the late 1960s to make Midnight Cowboy, a picaresque story of friendship that captured a city in crisis and sparked a new era of Hollywood movies. Jon Voight delivers a career-making performance as Joe Buck, a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy city women; he finds a companion in Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida, played by Dustin Hoffman in a radical departure from his breakthrough in The Graduate. A critical and commercial success despite controversy over what the MPAA termed its “homosexual frame of reference”, Midnight Cowboy became the first X-rated film to receive the best picture Oscar, and decades on, its influence still reverberates through cinema. (Criterion)
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Reviews (7)
When I rewatch old movie hits, in many cases I note that either the film has aged or I have aged and now perceive it completely differently, so I inevitably have to lower my rating. Nostalgia can color an average film with the brightest colors. But with Midnight Cowboy, I can confidently say that it is a timeless film with extraordinary emotional impact. The story of two outsiders, dreamers, losers, and men living on the outskirts of the city and prosperity, is depicted without cheap sentimentality and yet with maximum effect. It is excellently cast, excellently acted, and as the cherry on top, adorned with an excellent musical motif. I always remember the song "Everybody's Talkin'" when I feel like tuning in to the right wave of romance and nostalgia. Midnight Cowboy is a film about an atypical and unlikely friendship between two men, brought together by necessity. The late 60s and 70s belonged to an era of American cinema that was characterized by a search for identity, rebellion against established practices and values, and a socially critical attitude toward the establishment. For most movie viewers, Dustin Hoffman is forever associated with the character of Rainman, but I primarily remember his unfortunate swindler from this film. Overall impression: 95%.
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Once again, I created a picture in my head about a movie that was different from what the movie actually is. However, that doesn't change the fact that it is an excellent film, which is brilliantly acted. Both Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman deliver great performances in a story that is at times unnecessarily psychedelic, but overall easily understandable and impactful.
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I’m glad that Czech Television has recently enabled me to see some old American Oscar classics. This is how I stumbled upon this absolutely amazing drama, whose quality made it timeless. I don’t even know where to begin describing how great this film is. Maybe I could start with editing, which shows a great precision and it’s evident that a lot of work was put into it. Thanks to this geniusediting and the shots of New York of that era you will get an incredible feeling of emptiness, gloom and despair. Maybe it’s exactly this depressing New York that makes this part of American cinematography so appealing. Other films in a similar vein, like Taxi Driver or Nolan’s Batman trilogy (even though it takes place in pseudo-New York) make use of a similar atmosphere. Then I have to praise the premise. Jon Voight plays an incredibly naïve guy who thinks the world is lying at his feet, until New York shows him otherwise, and he moreover meets the notorious conman played by Dustin Hoffman. Then we witness a truly brilliant acting performance. And it’s not just “in his head”; Dustin Hoffman also had to go through immense physical pain to deliver it. Meanwhile, the film transforms into a powerful story about male friendship. So it definitely deserves the full rating. It is also a testimony of the Hippie era, especially thanks to that incredible scene at the apartment of some local Yoko Ono. I was completely shocked. This piece is full of surprises, mainly regarding its quality filmmaking.
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Naivety and honesty hurt. The viewer and Joe. And sometimes it hurts to leave a familiar place and go somewhere where everything is supposed to be better, and in the end, nothing is better. In the wrong places, honesty and trust will simply destroy you. But this whole interpretation of mine would only be a simplified message of the story if Hoffman's Rico did not appear in it. With him, a biting, evoking absolute melancholy came to the cowboy campaign. Awakening of the former generation, a warning for the present.
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The peak of depression, directorial creativity and acting mastery, while at the same tame, it irradiates something beautiful and hopeful in an almost poetical way (perhaps thanks to the nice music as an echo of the easygoing sixties). Probably, the most convincing breakdown of the American urban dream and very likely Dustin Hoffman’s best performance, even better than the more psychologically pigeon-holed Rain Main. 90%
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