Mitch (Billy Crystal) is depressed and discontent with his current state of life. He doesn’t like his job and is having problems with his wife. So, his two adventuresome friends, Phil (Daniel Stern) and Ed (Bruno Kirby), convince him to take a two week vacation driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. Mitch goes hesitantly and runs into a lot of problems on the ranch. The cattle drive is led, for example, by an old, hard, scary cowboy named Curly (Jack Palance) and some perpetually drunken hooligans.

Mitch deals with the various conflicts – including delivering and caring for a calf he names Norman – each as they come. He spends some time on the road trying to figure out what’s wrong with his life, and eventually discovers, with the help of Curly, that the secret to life lies in one thing. The one thing for Mitch is a good thing and the lesson is a heartwarming one.

City Slickers offers a few moments of humor, a few of mild tension, and even a few touching moments as well. Some of the dialogue and conflicts are simplistic and a few of the filmmaking conventions of tension feel contrived; but all in all City Slickers provides a fun drive to the finish.