Its too bad the user comments don't come with the person's age and experience written alongside them. I'm a 32 year old native New Yorker. You can like or dislike a movie based upon its artistic qualities, but I can only imagine that some people would find this movie annoying or unrealistic if they are young or have led a charmed life. Sure Joe Buck is naive - that's the point. If he wasn't, there is no need for a movie to be made about him as he would have succeeded. So perhaps see John Travolta in "Rhinestone Cowboy" if you prefer less naivetee in your cowboys while you're studying for your chemistry exam and you're really p***ed off Daddy won't give you the money to go to Cancun for Spring Break, rather you have to go to Daytona. Even with the "Disneyfication" of 42nd street NY is still a tough place to make it - the sleaze has just relocated. I know plenty of college grads who are making peanuts in dead end jobs they never would have thought they'd end up in back in college when they had the luxury of being able to say "That Joe Buck. So naive". Believe me, the con-men are more sophisticated today and you can just as easily fail as Joe did, but for different reasons. Replace Joe with a young kid programmer trying to succeed in Silicon Alley and you can have a modern version of Midnight Cowboy. I myself came down to my last $6 before I got my break here but even so, I still had parents nearby I could rely on. Joe and Ratso did not. As you go through life you see that indeed there are times when two paths diverge in the woods and you're going down one path and it makes all the difference to your future. Usually you notice you've gone down a path after the fact. We can see Joe realizing something is going on and its not the right thing as his bad luck starts - but part of what makes this movie a classic is its ability to deal with the many sided nature of life. As Joe is bunking down for his first night in Ratso's apartment we see him realizing that this is not right. This isn't how it was supposed to be. Yet at the same time he finds himself chucking over Ratso's wish to be called Rico in his own goddamn apartment. "Rico Rico Rico...". Joe doesn't want to go down this path, yet he's still trying to be himself. Do you think life sends you a telegram saying "Hey kid, this is wrong - back up a few steps and try again?" No, it doesn't. And if you only find out when its too late to back up a few steps what are you to do? And Joe does grow in 'street smarts'. Note when he's in Rico's apartment he asks him what he wants (out of him). What's the catch? And when Joe needs money fast he is able to quickly hustle and rob Towny. Unlike at the beginning, at the end we are left feeling Joe is able to take care of himself. But still, at the final he is sitting in the bus like a scared boy just about to cry. I've seen a number of people who've come to NY thinking that if they can make it somewhere else, they can make it here. Then, sometimes sooner, sometimes later, they find NY to be the friendless, poor-making city it can be if you don't succeed. And you know what? Most people don't. Only then do they find out that NY does deserve its reputation - if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Not the other way around. But I love the moment in the Florida diner when Joe is buying lunch when the woman asks him where he's from. Born and raised in Texas, and after everything he's been through, Joe answers "New York".
Review of Midnight Cowboy
