Asphalt-Cowboy (1969)

Asphalt-Cowboy: Directed by John Schlesinger. With Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver. A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.

“Virile, but naive, big Joe Buck leaves his home in Big Spring, Texas, and hustles off to the Big Apple in search of women and big bucks. In NYC, JB meets up with frustration, and with u0026quot;Ratsou0026quot; Rizzo, a scruffy but cordial con artist. Somehow, this mismatched pair manage to survive each other which in turn helps both of them cope with a gritty, sometimes brutal, urban America, en route to a poignant ending.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBoth funny and depressing, our u0026quot;Midnight Cowboyu0026quot; rides head-on into the vortex of cyclonic cultural change, and thus confirms to 1969 viewers that they, themselves, have been swept away from the 1950u0026#39;s age of innocence, and dropped, Dorothy and Toto like, into the 1960u0026#39;s Age of Aquarius.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe filmu0026#39;s direction is masterful; the casting is perfect; the acting is top notch; the script is crisp and cogent; the cinematography is engaging; and the music enhances all of the above. Deservedly, it won the best picture Oscar of 1969, and I would vote it as one of the best films of that cyclonic decade.”