Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers (WGA):

Tom Robbins (novel)
Gus Van Sant (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 May 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

There have been many great drivers but only one great passenger.

Plot:

Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age...

Plot Keywords:

Ranch | Cowgirl | Peyote | Thumb | Whooping Crane

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Uma Thurman	...	Sissy Hankshaw
Lorraine Bracco	...	Delores Del Ruby
Pat Morita	...	The Chink (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
Angie Dickinson	...	Miss Adrian
Keanu Reeves	...	Julian Gitche
John Hurt	...	The Countess
Rain Phoenix	...	Bonanza Jellybean
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Rupert
Carol Kane	...	Carla
Sean Young	...	Marie Barth
Crispin Glover	...	Howard Barth
Roseanne	...	Madame Zoe (as Roseanne Arnold)
Buck Henry	...	Dr. Dreyfus
Grace Zabriskie	...	Mrs. Hankshaw
Treva Jeffryes	...	Young Sissy

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and some language.

Runtime:

USA:95 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | France:U | Netherlands:16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bend, Oregon, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Quotes:

Delores Del Ruby: [about The Countess] Look at him, perverse as a pink pickle.

Soundtrack:

Kundalini Yoga Waltz

You'll get the blues, all right....

Uma Thurman plays Sissy, a young woman with a gypsy spirit (and freakishly large thumbs) who hitchhikes cross-country, eventually finding her true place amongst a group of peyote-enlightened cowgirls on a ranch devoted to preserving the Whooping Crane; Rain(bow) Phoenix is their lesbian leader, Bonanza Jellybean, who falls in love with Sissy, thumbs or not. Gus Van Sant directed and adapted Tom Robbins' book, but his satire has no primary target and just skitters all over the map, like Sissy (maybe that was his goal, but it's not involving for an audience). Notorious box-office flop wasn't so much panned as it was ignored, and one can see why: it's a series of sketches in search of a plot, and the performances, directorial touches and cinematography are all variable. Thurman is a stitch posing alongside the highway trying to get a ride, but this pretty much put the kibosh on Phoenix's career. Writer Buck Henry (who didn't write this, but perhaps should have) gives the most assured performance as the doctor who works on one of those thumbs.

Two thumbs down.