Review of Midnight Cowboy (1969) by Sausages M — 16 Nov 2012

I don't often give a film the full 5 stars, but here's one that really deserves it. Jon Voight is excellent as the naive stud from the friendly south out of place and out of time, who goes to the big city (New York) in search of a fast buck but finds it isn't quite what he expected. Dustin Hoffman is masterful as Ratso Rizzo, the man dealt a shitty hand by life trying to scratch an existence just another day by whatever means necessary- just really convincing. But that story on its own is, dare I say it, rather cliché. What lifts it above that is the masterful direction of John Schlesinger, by turns avant garde and nostalgic, but always on point with the simple story. However, it's the last third of the movie when the tragedy of their situation and the humanity and inhumanity lifts this film to the heights. You know what's going to happen, but it's still affecting.

And then you have the fantastic soundtrack, utterly untouchable.

Here we have the American dream laid bare, dissected and left for dead. It's a sad, but brilliant and touching film everyone should see. It just has so much heart. They really don't make them like this anymore.