Urban Cowboy is a 1980 movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger about the love-hate relationship between Travolta's character Bud and Winger's character Sissy.

Plot Summary

The movie starts out with Bud moving to Houston, Texas to work at an oil refinery with his uncle Bob (Barry Corbin) and soon after moving, becoming part of the nightlife there. He meets Sissy, then, and marries her. After the wedding, they visit the bar they met in, Gilley's (real life country singer Mickey Gilley's real life bar) and learns that a mechanical bull has been installed there recently. Bud forbids Sissy from riding it and rides it. The next day while Bud is working at the refinery, Sissy goes back to bar and rides the bull. At the same time Bud hurts himself at the refinery and comes back home early. When Sissy comes back home to their trailer, Bud and Sissy get in to a fight and return back to the bar. Bud there riding the bull is thrown off deliberately by a ex-con who operates it and hurts his arm. Bud and Sissy return to the trailer, fight again and Sissy is kicked out of the trailer.

Sissy then tries to go to bed with previously mentioned ex-con who works at the bar, Wes (Scott Glenn), but stops before doing anything. Bud, though, really goes to bed with a girl he met at Gilley's, Pam (Madolyn Osborne nee Smith). Sissy, the next day, returns to the trailer and finds no in there. As she starts to leave after leaving a note asking Bud to meet her at Gilley's and cleaning up the trailer, Pam arrives and Sissy lets her in and leaves. When Bud returns to the trailer Pam takes credit for cleaning up the trailer and hides the note.

Bud not knowing of Sissy's arrival or the note starts to train for a upcoming bullriding contest and "blows off" Sissy. Sissy angry at Bud, really starts an affair with Wes. Wes, we learn, is also planning to take part in the bullriding contest. He soon becomes abusive toward Sissy and tells her that they are leaving after the contest. Bud, meanwhile, trains very hard with Bob toward winning the contest.

Finally, the day of the contest arrives, and before it Bud is told by Pam to be with Sissy because she is the one he really loves and of the letter left in the trailer. The contest final has Bud pited against Wes and Bud prevailing. Bud, after, goes to see Sissy and reconcile and learns of Wes's abusive behaviour. Meanwhile, Wes angry at his loss plans to steal the money reward of the contest. He almost succeeds but as he tries to sneak away Bud arrives and knocks him to the floor, pushing the money in his jacket out causing him to arrested, for hurting Sissy. In the end Sissy and Bud leave together.

The movie is about the trials of life, and how one man and one woman can love each other after much pain separates them. It shows terrifically the love-hate relationship many couples go through, and how tragedy can save a marriage. It is also about the late 1970's lifestyles in certain areas of America.

Other information

The movie's screenplay was adapted from a article on Western nightlife written by Aaron Latham, by Latham and James Bridges. The movie was directed by Bridges. The movie spawned a hit soundtrack album featuring such songs as Johnny Lee's "Looking for Love" and "Devil went down to Gerogia" sung by the Charlie Daniels Band. The film is said to have started the 80's boom in country music appeal. It despite the soundtrack album's good sales, fared very poorly at the box office.

Patrick Swayze taught Travolta how to do the two-step for the movie, while his wife, Lisa Niemi and mother, Patsy Swayze choreographed the dance sequences. Some other trivial information are: The scene where Wes chews up and swallows the worm after drinking the bottle of tequila was not scripted, but a joke done for the dailies, Travolta had a mechanical bull installed in his home two months before production began and became so good that he was allowed to dismiss the stunt double and do the takes himself, At the time the film was shot, Gilley's, used as the film's main nightclub location was the largest nightclub in the world in terms of available space for the patrons, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and Michelle Pfeiffer auditioned for the role of Sissy.

Links

IMDB entry for Urban Cowboy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081696/combined