Review of Midnight Cowboy (1969) by Koralia D — 10 Feb 2011

Midnight Cowboy is an ageless classic that mainly shines because of the fantastic performances by Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Voight portrays a gigolo whose appeal is dressing up like a cowboy and Hoffman plays a handicapped dying burglar. They are a couple of Joe Does with broken dreams and very low expectations of life, two opposite personalities that suddenly become compatible.

Besides, the movie is also significant due to the magnificent direction by John Schlesinger and the daring screenplay which cleverly stamps the era the two protagonists were living and the regeneration moment the Hollywood cinema was passing through: more explicit sex, use of drugs and their hallucinating effects in consumers, the break-up with the typical happy ending, a break-up with the cowboy stereotype, the crazy way to manage cinematography, etc.

Watching Midnight Cowboy has been one of the biggest experiences I've ever had throughout my cinephile background, I strongly recommend it as one of the greatest movies ever made and one of my personal favorites.