The Cowboy Way (film)

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The Cowboy Way
Cowboy way ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gregg Champion
Written byRob Thompson
Produced by Brian Grazer
Starring
Cinematography Dean Semler
Edited by Michael Tronick
Music by David Newman
Bon Jovi (songs)
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • June 3, 1994 (1994-06-03)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million [1]
Box office$25 million [2]

The Cowboy Way is a 1994 American action comedy western film directed by Gregg Champion and starring Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland.

Contents

Plot

The Cowboy Way follows two championship rodeo stars and lifelong best friends, Pepper Lewis and Sonny Gilstrap as they travel from New Mexico to New York City in search of their missing friend, Nacho Salazar, who came to the city to pay for his daughter's trip to the U.S. from Cuba. When they discover that he's been murdered, the pair set out to find the killer.

Cast

In addition, Travis Tritt makes a cameo appearance.

Production

In January 1993, it was reported that Woody Harrelson and Brad Pitt were being courted by Imagine Entertainment to star in the William D. Wittliff scripted action-adventure film The Cowboy Way about two New Mexico cowboys who travel to New York City to rescue their ranch hand's kidnapped daughter. [3] In April of that year, Gregg Champion was set to direct with Harrelson confirmed as one of the leads with the search for a co-lead continuing. [4] By June, Kiefer Sutherland was in final negotiations to star in the film alongside Harrelson. [5] According to Harrelson, he'd been trying to star The Cowboy Way for years with the script having once been positioned as a Kevin Costner vehicle with Costner even contributing to one of the drafts of the script. [6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 25% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10. [7]

Joe Brown of The Washington Post said, "The Cowboy Way is a weak rehashing of the Crocodile Dundee gimmick: two modern-day cowboys taming the Wild East. The tired formula may still have some life left in it, but not this 'Way'. This dud ranch is saddled with the charisma-free teaming of dumb guns Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland." [8]

Year-end lists

Box office

The Cowboy Way debuted at number 5 at the US box office and went on to gross $20 million in the United States and Canada and $25 million worldwide. [13] [14] [2]

Soundtrack

References

  1. ↑ Eller, Claudia; Natale, Richard (1994-08-02). "A Squeeze Play Tags the Summer Box Office : A season of monumental successes--and flops--worries many executives that crowds are shunning mid-range films in favor of a few home-run hits". Los Angeles Times.
  2. 1 2 "Planet Hollywood". Screen International . August 30, 1996. pp. 14–15.
  3. ↑ "Imagine turns attention to prod'n". Variety. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Imagine bursting with development work". Variety. Archived from the original on January 15, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Sutherland near 'Cowboy' ride". Variety. Archived from the original on July 31, 2025. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  6. ↑ "'Cowboy Way' shoot ranges to big city". Variety. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2025.
  7. ↑ "The Cowboy Way". Rotten Tomatoes (Flixster). Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Cowboy Way (PG-13)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  9. ↑ Denerstein, Robert (January 1, 1995). "Perhaps It Was Best to Simply Fade to Black". Rocky Mountain News (Final ed.). p. 61A.
  10. ↑ Mayo, Mike (December 30, 1994). "The Hits and Misses at the Movies in '94". The Roanoke Times (Metro ed.). p. 1.
  11. ↑ Craft, Dan (December 30, 1994). "Success, Failure and a Lot of In-between; Movies '94". The Pantagraph . p. B1.
  12. ↑ Lyons, Jeffrey (host); Medved, Michael (host) (January 6, 1995). "Best & Worst of 1994". Sneak Previews . Season 20. WTTW . Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  13. ↑ Cerone, Daniel (1994-06-07). "Weekend Box Office : 'Flintstones' Keeps Rolling Along". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2011-11-06.
  14. ↑ The Cowboy Way at Box Office Mojo
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