Bud Davis (John Travolta) is a simple small town kid who moves to Houston and lives with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin)'s family. He gets a low level job at the refinery with Bob's help. He starts hanging out at Gilley's Club where he meets Sissy (Debra Winger). They have a fiery combative date and quickly get married. They move into a trailer park. Bud is traditional but Sissy is independent. Bud likes to ride the mechanical bull at Gilley's. Released convict and rodeo bullrider Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) impresses Sissy with his skills. He teaches her after Bud forbids her to ride.

It's hard to like Bud especially at the beginning. It takes awhile for him to build some vulnerability. I never really get to a point where I'm rooting for this couple to stay together. It's the first leading role for Debra Winger and she shows her great feistiness as well as vulnerability. Gilley's is very well represented. That cowboy way is nicely done. It would be great for this movie to be shorter and for Bud to not be so much of a jerk. It would allow for better rooting interest. I don't particularly care who wins or who gets together by the end. Although I definitely want Sissy to get out of her troubled life.

The cowboy Bud Davis (John Travolta) moves from his homeland of Spur to Houston to work with his Uncle Bob (Narry Corbon) in a refinery. During the night, they go to the Gilley's Club where Bob introduces his nephew to his friends. Bud meets Sissy (Debra Winger) at the club and soon they fall in love with each other and get married. Sissy is an independent working girl and Bud is a male chauvinist that believes in the traditional role of the wife, cooking, ironing and making love. When Gilley's buys a mechanical bull for the clients, Bud likes to ride it and does not allow Sisy to ride. However she goes to the club in the afternoon and the ex-convict and operator of the bull Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) teaches her how to ride. When Bud learns that Sissy lied to him, Bud becomes jealous and has a love affair with the wealthy Pam (Madolyn Smith) and Sissy goes to Wes' trailer. Along the days, they fight each other and try to make the other jealous. When Gilley's announces a mechanical bull's dispute, Bud wants to win Wes. Will he succeed?

"Urban Cowboy" is a silly film with unlikable and immature characters. Bud Davis is an unbearable character and Sissy is immature and fool. But the music score and the dances are highly entertaining. In addition, it is delightful to see Debra Winger very young. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Cowboy do Asfalto" ("Asphalt Cowboy")

For Urban Cowboy John Travolta plays one of the stronger alpha males ever portrayed on the big screen. He's a decent enough young kid who leaves his parent's homestead and strikes out for the big city of Dallas where his uncle Barry Corbin has promised to find him work in the petrochemical industry. In 1980 that was beginning to boom and Texas was definitely a growing place in the USA.

Travolta does a good job in making we the audience care about his character who when you come right down to it is a sexist pig. He meets and marries Debra Winger who's from the same background, but she's got some ideas that women should not be shadows of their men. And when she beats him at Gilley's mechanical bull, a man's game, that's it for him.

Scott Glenn who's an ex-convict is working at Gilley's and this film was his breakout role. He's a real snake in Urban Cowboy, he gets Travolta's goat with a mere look and he moves in on Winger. Travolta in turn takes up with rich girl, Madolyn Smith Osborne who's slumming at Gilley's.

Despite the characters, Urban Cowboy was really one gigantic commercial for the self-styled biggest honky tonk in the world. Gilley's is no longer there in the suburban Texas community of Pasadena, but the memories do live on. And the best thing about Urban Cowboy is the wonderful score of country/western songs that were featured in the film. I'm not sure if some of the songs were not written specifically for Urban Cowboy, but it's the only reason I can think of why the Motion Picture Academy ignored the musical aspects of this film. I especially liked Johnny Lee's Looking For Love, if it was specifically written for this film, it's a disgrace that it wasn't nominated for Best Song.

I liked Debra Winger's character best in this film. She doesn't lose a trace of femininity, but she stands up to Travolta and does it in style. And this review is dedicated to that yet as unknown woman who will one day be the first woman bull-rider in the Professional Bull Riders.