Midnight Cowboy

The first nemesis film falls, run down by a taxi in the middle of New York City despite the fact that it was "walkin' here!" Midnight Cowboy has been on my radar for years now. I never quite knew what it was about or why I wanted to see it. Was it the X-Rating? Sure, that had something to do with it. I've seen some crazy things in movies, but those films were never given the elusive X-Rating. So, in a way, I had to know what was so provocative about this film. But, promise of a bare chest or some gore isn't going to be enough to make me see a film. So maybe it was the famous quote: "I'm walkin' here!" After all, my interest in Taxi Driver came from the iconic "You talkin' to me?" and I certainly wanted to know what was relevant about the greatest trick the devil ever pulled in The Usual Suspects. But a quote isn't enough to draw me in either. It takes more than that. If I were to credit anyone, it would be the great Dustin Hoffman. He doesn't get nearly as much credit as his generational acting brothers, Deniro and Pacino, but Hoffman always promises a wonderful performance.

For those as ignorant as I was before I saw this film, the plot follows Joe Buck (Jon Voight) as he abandons his mundane Texan life to become a "hustler" in New York City. There are lots of rich women willing to pay a Lone Star stud for "attention" and Buck is looking to cash in. He meets along the way Rico Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) a slightly crippled swindler who ends up bonding with Buck. The film follows, with no apologies, the cowboy's fall from naivete into the seedy underworld of New York City. It's a film bathed in disappointment, reality, and failure, all the while flirting with the theme of companionship as Buck and Rizzo become more dependent on each other.

I never expected a movie about an aspiring male prostitute to be so tender and emotional. Buck is a jerk, but I think we can all relate to that sort of unrealistic dream and naive ignorance. Watching him discover that his plans will fail after all is heartbreaking. The enduring friendship between Joe and Rico was very effective and saddening. It's the sort of Mutt and Jeff performance that captures moviegoers' hearts. Something about it reminds me of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Chemistry is important and Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman certainly work together.

That brings me to my own personal focus: acting. We'll start with Jon Voight. He plays his meathead cowboy type well, but for the first half of the film, it's exhausting. We get the bulk of his character after the first ten minutes and nothing that happens to him is much of a surprise or entertaining. However, it is when Buck begins to change and develop his friendship with Rizzo that we see the sadness and disappointment that Voight brings to the role. There's something childlike about Buck and Voight brings to mind a crying child who doesn't get what he wants on Christmas morning. It's easy to relate to and by the time we're halfway through the film, Buck becomes more than a Lone Star stereotype. I wouldn't say that Voight was the best choice for the role. At the time, Robert Redford probably would've been a better choice, but Voight gets the job done and manages not to bring the film down.

Now to the man who brought my attention to this film. Dustin Hoffman is a tremendously gifted actor. His performance in The Graduate is perfect and given that that film was made around the same time as this one, it's surprising the range Hoffman was trusted with. In his trysts with Mrs. Robinson, he is somber and lost, unsure of his future. But his skid row adventures with Joe Buck, he is a completely different kind of sadness: a man forgotten by society. He's desperate and hurt. Rizzo is sleezy, but we feel for him far more than Voight's character. When Rizzo splits after conning Buck for the first time, I missed him dearly. Voight simply didn't command the screen like Hoffman did.

Luckily, Voight's solo stretch before finding Hoffman's character again was saved by a distinct style to the film. The echoing voices and sudden, quick, flashbacks create a consistent feel to the movie along with the recurring theme music, "Everybody's Talkin'" which all adds to that distinctly 60s vibe. It's as  much a character film as it is an era film and I can't resist a film with style. The era feel was cemented with Joe and Rizzo's visit to the crazy party near the end of the film.

Midnight Cowboy is an undeniable classic which helped to forge Dustin Hoffman's legendary career. It can get less exciting than one would hope a movie about the seedy underbelly of male prostitution would be. The drama is punctuated, but incredibly affecting. Voight does his job. The movie's style picks up the slack where Hoffman is not present. The movie is worth seeing, but does not compare to other classics of the time such as The Godfather or The Graduate.

Rating: 3.5/5
See it for: Dustin Hoffman, the style, the story.
Quote of the Movie: "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" -- Ratso Rizzo


P.S. I'm still not sure what the X-Rating is all about. I've seen worse on cable.