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Movies / On DVD / Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy

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Midnight Cowboy (1969)

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Reviews Counted:48

Fresh:43

Rotten:5

Average Rating:8.3/10

Consensus: John Schlesinger's gritty, unrelentingly bleak look at the seedy underbelly of urban American life is undeniably disturbing, but Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight's performances make it difficult to turn away.

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Joe Buck (Jon Voight), an aspiring male prostitute from Texas, heads to Manhattan where he hopes to find plenty of wealthy women willing to pay for the services of a handsome man. When he arrives,... Joe Buck (Jon Voight), an aspiring male prostitute from Texas, heads to Manhattan where he hopes to find plenty of wealthy women willing to pay for the services of a handsome man. When he arrives, the naive country boy befriends Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a tubercular homeless con artist who dreams of moving to Florida. As they go about trying to get the money Ratso needs, the two men confront the seediness, corruption, and cruelty that flourish in the big city. Based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy, this Oscar-winning film (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay) features brilliant performances by Voight and Hoffman, and brings to the screen an unusually gritty realism in its portrayal of the streets of New York City. [More]

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, John McGiver, Ruth White, Barnard Hughes, Bob Balaban, Viva, Paul Morrissey

Director: John Schlesinger

Director: John Schlesinger
Story: James Leo Herlihy
Composer: John Barry
Producer: Jerome Hellman

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Midnight Cowboy

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Outrageously overrated at the cynical end of the Swinging Sixties.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Superb performances and a compelling script have made this film a strange mix of Oscar-winner and Cult Classic.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/20/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An impressive and enduring evocation of time and place, this is a moving low-life drama built around Oscar-winning writing and performances.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/30/08
Jon Fortgang
Jon Fortgang
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
12/24/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The acting, showy and instinctual, is most of the movie; the visual style is too forced and chicly distended to let the drama acquire much natural life of its own.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 3 Comments
12/13/06
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

It might have been fun, but it's condescending and stupidly mean-spirited instead.

comment 2 Comments
06/08/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

One of the more overrated films of modern 'hip' times.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 1 Comment
01/31/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A buddy movie of rather unlikely characters falling into a rather forced friendship.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Midnight Cowboy is quite a film and one that looms as an adult attraction of truly blockbuster proportions.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Talented Englishman Schlesinger had an unerring eye for capturing the grimy reality of New York, even if his directorial style is more jittery than is really necessary.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/13/06
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gritty and disturbing - there was a reason for that X-rating . . . and the Oscar!

comment Comment
03/18/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

I appreciate the performances by Jon Voight, as Joe Buck, and Dustin Hoffman, as Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo, as well as their relationship.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

A maverick effort.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/25/04
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A film you won't soon forget

comment Comment
03/11/06
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
10/05/06
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Hoffman gives a performance as 'Ratzo' Rizzo that stands as the finest in an extraordinary career.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
08/18/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

The performances by Hoffman and Voight are big.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

The movie is locked into a sixties stylistic approach that can feel dated, but Hoffman’s performance can prevent one from ever tiring of the film.

Full Review Source: DVDLaser | comment Comment
01/30/08
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt
DVDLaser
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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