Pssst, want to check out Even Cowgirls Get the Blues in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 1993
- Runtime
- 106 min.
- Director
- Gus Van Sant
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Comedy, Western
- Rating *
- 4.3
- Votes *
- 6,065
- Checks
- 459
- Favs
- 6
- Dislikes
- 30
- Favs/checks
- 1.3% (1:77)
- Favs/dislikes
- 1:5
Top comments
-
xianjiro
Gus knows less about lesbian cinema than the Countess knows about feminine hygiene.
At least it was painfully clear what he was smoking ...
Some of the scenery is gorgeous. Some of the acting is campy fun. But none of this can save this celluloid mess. 1 year 8 months ago -
Siskoid
Gus Van Sant's follow-up to My Own Private Idaho was Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which was similarly imbued with LGBTQ+ themes and experimentalism, not to mention several of its stars (Keanu, River, Udo) appearing in small parts or cameos. In fact, there are TONS of big names in bit parts and cameos in this, to the point of absurdity. So it's really too bad the film doesn't really work. On paper, I should be all over this. Uma Thurman plays a girl born with giant thumbs and wanderlust that make her the world's greatest hitchhiker. She perhaps finds a home on a ranch run by lesbian terrorists called the Cowgirls who take care of almost extinct whooping crane. The theme of extinction/creating a new world order, for good or ill, seems central, as perhaps a metaphor for upending gender norms (and sexual orientation/identity), but it's not always clear. The main problem is really the acting. Most of the characters seem disconnected from what they're saying, as if reading straight from the novel, perhaps for the first time. From the great prose that makes up the occasional narration, I'd say Tom Robbins' book is a lot more fun than the movie adaptation turns out to be. Pushed too far into philosophical fable territory, it lacks the humanity to make me care. 4 years 8 months ago -
