Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
From the director of Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho comes a star-studded comedy based on the best-selling novel by Tom Robbins. The cowgirls on the Rubber Rose Ranch are staging a rebellion. Delores Del Ruby (Bracco) is leading the uproarious uprising, but it's really Sissy Hankshaw (Thurman) who's providing the spiritual leadership for this rag-tag bunch of female bandits. With her marvelous thumbs and her funky brand of femininity, she shatters all male chauvinist illusions and boldly goes where no woman has gone before.
Member Reviews
As good as it could be - thenewguy
Tom Robbins novels are generally complex, interwoven affairs which are popular as much for the style of his writing and the concepts he talks about as his characters and what they do. Robbins books tend to be vehicles in which he talks about things, rather than classical story telling. So I picked out this movie out of curiosity to see how someone might translate his work into a film.
When one considers the budget and the material the writers/director was working with, I think they did fairly good job. Apparently done on the cheap and with what appears to be an inexperienced cast (keep in mind this was at the early stage of Uma's career) the film manages to cover most of the action in Robbins' novel. The key events, and characters are captured and the story is placed into an order easier to understand. Several items and back-stories are left out. The concept of Tim and Sissy's marriage are skipped over completely.
For a Robbins fan with an open mind regarding expectations, the film scores well. But for people unfamiliar with Robbins work or who expect the film to follow the book exactly, it would be a disappointment.Fish Out of Water Story - xYJx
Coming off of My Own Private Idaho, Gus Van Sant presents a great, symbolic story of society shunning someone who is different. This is a film where you have to dig beneath the surface to find pleasure in this film. While the ludicrous tale of a girl with giant thumbs is far fetched, its not a stretch to say that this story touches on about society's past intolerance of those who have different color skin or different religious beliefs. The old saying "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." is beautifully presented in this film. I believe its worth checking out, at least for the social commentary and satire.Pretty cringe-worthy - Stephanie1
I had heard terrible things about this movie, but being a big Tom Robbins fan, I felt I had to see it, if for no other reason than to see exactly how someone could possibly translate one of his books into a film and have it make any sort of sense.
It didn't work. Granted, this book was not my favorite of his, but the film was rather painful to watch. Pat Morita was probably the saving grace of the film, but of course he was very scarce, which was disappointing since he was such a strong figure in the book. I'm still not sure of John Hurt was frighteningly good, or just frightening as the Countess. A bit of both, i think. I enjoyed that Mr. Robbins himself was the narrator... it was neat hearing him read his own work. And of course Keanu Reeves and Rain Phoenix were absolute torture to watch on the screen... I just haven't the words for how bad their performances were in this film.
Basically, if you're a Tom Robbins fan and have read the book, this film might be worth watching, though don't expect great things from it. If you're not familiar with his work, then just avoid this film, it will surely put you off reading any of his books.
Member Reviews
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As good as it could be - thenewguy
Tom Robbins novels are generally complex, interwoven affairs which are popular as much for the style of his writing and the concepts he talks about as his characters and what they do. Robbins books tend to be vehicles in which he talks about things, rather ...Fish Out of Water Story - xYJx
Coming off of My Own Private Idaho, Gus Van Sant presents a great, symbolic story of society shunning someone who is different. This is a film where you have to dig beneath the surface to find pleasure in this film. While the ludicrous tale of a girl with ...Pretty cringe-worthy - Stephanie1
I had heard terrible things about this movie, but being a big Tom Robbins fan, I felt I had to see it, if for no other reason than to see exactly how someone could possibly translate one of his books into a film and have it make any sort of sense.
It didn't ...