1969--Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger

1969--Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger

Nominated: Annie of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello Dolly, Z

Should have won: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Be sure to see: Last Summer, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Wild Bunch

“Two basic items necessary to stay alive are sunshine and coconut milk”--Ratso Rizzo

     High Noon, is one of the finest westerns of all time. Its only setback for me is the song “Do not forsake me oh my darling” is played on a continuous loop and I got tired of hearing it. After about eight minutes of Midnight Cowboy, I was tired of “Everybody's Talkin'”. The difference between the two films is High Noon is a great movie while Midnight Cowboy is the second worst best picture winner of all time.

     The only interesting aspects about this movie are the rating and its famous line. Midnight Cowboy is the only best picture winner rated X by the MPAA, interesting considering the previous year's winner was the only G-rated movie to win. Going in I was intrigued on this fact and was wondering what exactly I was in for. But with no explicit sex, nudity or language I am baffled by the rating. There is an awkward scene in a movie theater that is risque but not enough for an X. The second point is the famous line “I'm walking here” which Rizzo yells at a taxi driver. What is interesting about it to me is the wonder of if you were on a game show and the topic was “famous movie quotes” and “I'm walking here” came up and you said Forrest Gump would you be called incorrect? Remember Lieutenant Dan says it? Or even Back to the Future Part 2 because Marty says it. I suppose this line has become part of our vernacular even for people who don't know where it came from.

     I'm weaseling around the review because I hated the movie so much. Joe Buck (no not the baseball announcer) is a Texas hustler, new to New York wanting to become a gigolo. But his luck with the local ladies is not panning out. He meets an ailing and crippled hustler name Ratso Rizzo who, naturally hustles him. Joe finds Rizzo and is ready to work him over. But Rizzo, fearing the beating, decides to teach Joe the ropes.

     The ending is sad but instead of feeling emotional I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode that spoofs it. If I had to think of something positive to say it would have to go to the harmonica score by Jean “Toots” Thieving and the performances of the two leads were decent, though I've always thought Dustin Hoffman hams up the screen in everything he is in, even things I've liked. In fact both Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were nominated for best actor, neither for a supporting role. Rightfully so, I suppose. And of course that X rating is a great trivia tidbit. But ultimately it is the second worst best picture winner I've seen even though people seem to love it. Crash gets the top honor. I'll go ahead and recommend it anyway because it is such a well-respected movie. The novelty of an X and two strong leads will probably keep it afloat for most people but I just didn't get it. I hated it even more than I did Tom Jones and Mrs. Miniver. But it is better than Crash. What was the Academy thinking on that one?