“Midnight Cowboy” is a classic. The only X-rated film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture (and also winning Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay), this is the story of a young Texas idiot named Joe Buck (Jon Voight) who moves to New York City with the intention of starting a career as a gigolo. Of course since he is a yokel he gets taken advantage of immediately in ole NYC, and struggles mightily to get his dream job going. He also meets polio-riddled Rizzo the Rat (Dustin Hoffman), a street hustler who initially hustles Joe Buck but then becomes friends with the guy, and soon enough they are the only thing the other person has.
Being from 1969, this was on the cusp of the whole 1970s anti-hero film movement, in which Travis Bickles, Colonel Kurtzes and Don Corleones were the order of the day, so this is kind of a sad movie about an idiot cowboy wanna be playboy and a pathetic street urchin, and it makes sense that it would be so popular during the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s. Now the movie exists as a wonderful time capsule, showing us the gloriously dirty and grimy New York City of long gone days, 180 degrees different from the Disney-fied, nanny state that the city has turned into today, with two great performances in the middle of it all, and featuring the now iconic “I’m walkin’ here!” line.
This is a classic for a reason. Find out why for yourself by watching it on the Netflix Instant Watch!
Watch it Right Now on Netflix Instant!
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