History Film / CitySlickers

* {{Foreshadowing]}:

Jack Palance's performance as Curly won him the 1991 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor and AFI ranked the film as #86 on its "100 Years...100 Laughs" list. Followed in 1994 by ''City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold,'' which was not as well-received as the original.

** Bringing the herd to the Colorado ranch in the first film, Mitch, Phil and Ed gleefully yodel the theme from ''Series/{{Bonanza}}''.

* OpenHeartDentistry: See ClosestThingWeGot, above.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Curly's story about his greatest love.

At Mitch's 39th birthday party, Phil and Ed present their joint birthday present: a two-week Southwestern cattle drive for all three men. At the insistence of his wife Barbara (Patricia Wettig), Mitch accepts the gift, traveling with his friends to New Mexico, where they meet the other participants of the cattle drive and learn the ropes of moving the herd, guided by the grizzled, tough-as-nails boss of the whole operation, Curly (Palance).

* AndStarring: The main cast roll ends with "and Jack Palance".

The film is about a group of New York City-based men experiencing a collective midlife crisis. Mitch Robbins (Crystal) is an advertising manager at the WBLM radio station who's increasingly disillusioned with the lack of meaning he sees in his job and his life. Phil Berquist (Stern) is stuck managing his father-in-law's grocery store, while trapped in a sexless marriage with an overbearing wife. And Ed Furillo (Kirby) is a successful businessman and playboy, struggling with the idea of monogamous marriage and the pressure to have kids.

The film is about a group of men experiencing a collective midlife crisis. Mitch Robbins (Crystal) is an advertising manager at the WBLM radio station who's increasingly disillusioned with the lack of meaning he sees in his job and his life. Phil Berquist (Stern) is stuck managing his father-in-law's grocery store, while trapped in a sexless marriage with an overbearing wife. And Ed Furillo (Kirby) is a successful businessman and playboy, struggling with the idea of monogamous marriage and the pressure to have kids.

The film is about a group of men experiencing a collective midlife crisis. Mitch Robbins (Crystal) is an advertising manager at a radio station who's increasingly disillusioned with the lack of meaning he sees in his job and his life. Phil Berquist (Stern) is stuck managing his father-in-law's grocery store, while trapped in a sexless marriage with an overbearing wife. And Ed Furillo (Kirby) is a successful businessman and playboy, struggling with the idea of monogamous marriage and the pressure to have kids.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lou is competent in his job as the radio station manager, deeply cares about Mitch and family and is even willing to let him go on break so he can get his life back on track.

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Ed’s story about standing up to his abusive and adulteress father implies that his dad respected that he had the guts to stand up to him. However that left Ed with a decades long dread that he would turn out like his father and thus making it also his worst day.

Jack Palance's performance as Curly won him the 1991 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor and AFI ranked the film as #86 on its "100 Laugh" list. Followed in 1994 by ''City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold,'' which was not as well-received as the original.

* BenevolentBoss: Lou, the manager at Mitch's radio station. When he learns about what Mitch is going through, he's polite enough to sympathize with him.
** While initially angry, he recognizes that his boss had every right in the world to be angry about the ad that he bought and realizes it’s his responsibility to do his job better, and that rather than complaining, he should be grateful that he has a decent boss

* MacGuffinEscortMission: The cattle drive.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Mitch and Barbara. "No...''you'' make me happy--'here'."

* AngryBlackMan: During their intro, the son dentist tries to do this trope, but the dad tells him to lay off.

* HollywoodMidLifeCrisis: The film about three friends who are each going through their own respective mid-life crisis. Mitch is bored with his job and frightened by how quickly the years seem to be flying by. Phil's SexlessMarriage prompts him to have an affair with a younger coworker, resulting in him losing his job and his wife leaving him. Ed is a successful businessman and womanizer who is frightened by the prospect of settling down and starting a family. The three friends go on a cattle drive vacation, during which they all begin to figure out their lives. Curly lampshades this when talking to Mitch, saying, "You all come up here at the same time", revealing that they're far from the first or only men in their age group to do this.

Jack Palance's performance as Curly won him the 1991 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor and AFI ranked the film as #86 on its "100 Laugh" list. Followed in 1994 by ''City Slickers II: [[StockSubtitle The Legend of Curly's Gold]],'' which was not as well-received as the original.

* AdultFear: Being almost 40 and feeling like you've wasted your entire life, which Phil has a breakdown over.
** Mitch describes his worst day as the day his wife found a lump in her breast. Luckily, it was benign, but he clearly spent that time terrified that he might lose his wife.