Barely three years after “Saturday Night Fever,” this film provides another dance vehicle for young John Travolta who plays Bud, a graduate who relocates to Houston for family reasons.
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Bud is not terribly likable here, but his Lone Star assimilation is immediate as his ex-rodeo champ uncle finds him work in a refinery then introduces him to massive (Mickey) Gilley's dance floor. Bud immediately two-steps into Sissy's (Winger) heart as she asks, “are you a for-real cowboy?” Good question, because at 1980's Gilley's, some are but most are not. In fact, one could consider the mechanical bull the symbolic main character.
A big problem is that lean, mean Wes (Scott Glenn) operates the bull. When Bud learns that he is an ex-con who is moving in on Sissy, a Western style rivalry develops over whose trailer she will share.
Of course, Bud and Sissy marry, separate, and reconcile once Bud realizes the shallow values of the rich girl Pam. There are some memorable images including Bud dangling upside-down from an oil tower, Sissy erotically “riding” the bull and the inevitable fisticuffs between Bud and Wes, who just can't shed his old habits. If nothing else, the Country soundtrack justifies seeing “Urban Cowboy” now.
The review of this Movie prepared by Angry Jim Magin
