Review for Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is the only X-Rated film to ever win Best Picture Oscar and also one of the few X-Rated films to be included in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It's odd watching this film back and wondering what exactly was the reason for the rating. Though it does explore a number of taboo subjects, this wasn't the horror violence and mayhem of A Clockwork Orange or Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the lurid sexual exploits of a film like Deep Throat, it is simply a well thought out, through and wonderful film that everyone should experience. The fact it was an X and is seen as one of the best films ever shows just how good Midnight Cowboy is. The film tells the story of Joe Buck (Jon Voight) who decides to try his life as a hustler. During his escapades he meets Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) a useless conman who uses Joe throughout the film for his own benefit. Despite all this, it is their rock bottom status that forms a bond between them and they tell each other their life stories and how they got there. The film ends with their poignant journey to Florida in what has to be one of the saddest endings I have ever experienced. This film is amazing. The performances by Voight as the naive hustler and Hoffman as Rizzo are both well formed and do not fall into cliché. It is Hoffman's performance that really elevates the film and his 'Hey I'm walking here!' has become one of the best known lines from any film (voted Number 27 by the AFI). The film is filmed simply, but the use of editing, the amazing script and music including Nilsson's classic Everybody's Talkin' just brings it up to a whole new level.
  The Blu-ray includes a commentary by the Producer and a number of documentaries. These are all perfect at showing by this film is so well loved and why (despite its rating, subject matter and so on) it is a film that everyone should experience. Though it is a shame that there isn't more in terms of deleted scenes, look at certain scenes and so on, but these all are fine.

Midnight Cowboy is a film that 'everybody's talkin about' and for good reason. It is true that some of the scenes may not be to your liking and there are obvious reasons as to why in the 1960s it was rated an X. But in the 2010s this film could almost be described as 'tame' and is certainly one of the best films of this period and one that everyone should watch.