Review of Midnight Cowboy (1969) by Danny R — 29 Jan 2012

A devastating, lacerating, character study which is based on the novel by Leo Herlihy, which is masterfully directed by John Schlesinger. The story concerns a young, handsome, muscular, naive male hustler from Texas named Joe Buck, strikingly played by Jon Voight in a smashing Oscar nominated debut performance who heads on a bus to New York City to become a gigolo and make plenty of money serving the rich middle-aged ladies, but he will soon find out that hustling is a lot harder then he thought it would be.

He meets and then is swindled out of money by a sleazy, decrepit, tubercular small-time grifter named Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman in a tour-de-force turn that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor who dreams of making it big and retiring to Florida.

Joe hits the bottom of the barrel with no money, he soon finds himself homeless and is reduced to turning gay tricks in theaters on 42nd Street. Joe encounters Ratso one morning sitting in a restaurant and is ready to ring his neck for swindling him out of money, but instead Joe takes pity on him and walks out, Ratso limps out of the restaurant and calls out to him and then invites Joe to stay at his place, a condemned apartment building.

The relationship between Joe and Ratso deepens and becomes strong as the two outcasts struggle to survive on the mean streets of New York. Voight and Hoffman are truly stunning, living on the tattered fringe of society.

You won't soon forget the sordid, squalid and lost souls that populate the than repellent 42nd Street area. This film is rich with impeccable supporting performances from fine character actors like Ruth White, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccario, Barnard Hughes, and Sylvia Miles in a standout performance as an aging hooker.

Outstanding cinematography by Adam Holender, and superb score by John Barry, which features the famous title song by Fred Neil "Everybody's Talking" which was memorably sung by Nilsson. A heartbreaking and compelling motion picture experience.

An American classic which won 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director: John Schlesinger, Best Screenplay Adaptation: Waldo Salt. An American classic. Highly Recommended.