The M.O.W.'s Movie Review of City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold

Fun, but could've used more jokes
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/02/08

"Mitch Robbins" (Billy Crystal) is turning the "Big 4-O" and is happy with his life. He then comes across a map hidden in the hat given to him by the late "Curly", which appears to lead to a buried treasure somewhere out west.

As he tries to keep the map a secret between him and his friend and co-worker "Phil Berquist" (Daniel Stern), he begins to think he sees "Curly".

Now he, "Phil" and his ("Mitch") lazy brother, "Glen", who can quote the "Godfather" movies by heart secretly go back to the area they met "Curly" to find his gold. But they come across somebody they never expected, who is also after the treasure -- "Curly's" identical twin brother, "Duke (Jack Palance, who also played "Curly" in the first film.

There are some pretty good performances in this film. Crystal is funny with the one-liners and zingers. Jon Levitz is good at playing a character he's usually cast in, he could have been a little more over-the-top to make his performance a little more memorable. Palance wasn't too memorable in this role, if you ask me. Like Levitz, he played this character like every other one I've seen him play on screen.

There was some beautiful scenery in this movie. It must have been impressive on the big screen when it came out to theaters. One scene which stood out was the stampede scene.

The movie is well paced, but some people may think it lags at times. The movie shows the three main characters ("Phil" and the "Robbins" brothers) bonding, which is really needed between the brothers, since one is successful and the other is not.

The majority of jokes are one-liners and zingers, with very little physical comedy. Many of the jokes will get you to laugh, but not bust a gut. Like I said before, Crystal is probably the best in the humor department in the film.

There is really no special effects in the movie that is worth mentioning. However, there is some good camera work, from scenery shots to one action scene (the previously mentioned stampede scene).

One thing I recommend you do is watch the first movie to familiarize yourself with the returning characters. I saw this movie on one of the movie channels because it was recommended by Yahoo Movies on my personalized recommendations list.

Personally, I think this would be a good rental.