Although he now mostly appears in low-budget crime pictures, action thrillers and future cult classics, it’s easy to forget that John Travolta was once the most popular young romantic heartthrob of his time. With his appearances in Carrie, Saturday Night Fever, and Grease, Travolta quickly established himself as an actor of charm, comedy and dramatic intensity, demonstrating that he could adapt his own personality to almost any genre scenario.
Travolta established himself as a leading man in James Bridges’ love film Urban Cowboy long before directors like John Woo and Quentin Tarantino placed him back on the map. It wasn’t just Travolta’s most mature performance yet, but it also demonstrated that he was willing to question the identity he had carefully created in past roles. Travolta pushed himself to new heights by portraying a vulnerable, quasi-Western romantic hero.
What is ‘Urban Cowboy’ about?
Urban Cowboy is a one-of-a-kind modern romantic drama that shows a specific lifestyle without passing judgment. Bridges’ movie is set in the small, isolated town of Pasadena, Texas in the early 1980s. Bud Davis (John Travolta) is a confident but troubled young man who is looking for work at his uncle Bob Davis’ (Barry Corbin) oil refinery. While Bud’s desire is to move away and own property of his own, these are clearly the misbegotten dreams of a young guy who is overtly optimistic; his coworkers laugh at his notions of progress when they’ve all lived in the same place their whole lives. It puts Bud as a new citizen (and Travolta, as an actor), in an intriguing situation; Bud wants to be accepted by this community, but he doesn’t want to remain a part of it forever.
The romance plot of Urban Cowboy is unexpectedly more progressive than one might think from a film that is rooted in traditionalistic Western values. Bud learns upon his first few encounters with the local girl Sissy (Debra Winger) that her tough attitude isn’t just a shield she wears to ward off annoying males who try to hit on her; she’s equally as self-assured and confident in every interaction. Bud had to compromise with himself and show a willingness to meet Sissy halfway in order to gain her respect.
Why is John Travolta’s ‘Urban Cowboy’ performance so special?
Beyond presenting a realistic portrayal of small-town life, Urban Cowboy gave John Travolta to feature in a very different kind of romantic story. As a character, Bud didn’t have Tony Manero’s larger-than-life charm from Saturday Night Fever, Danny Zuko’s comedic timing from Grease, or even Billy Nolan’s dumbstruck horror from Carrie. Urban Cowboy was unlike anything he had ever done before. Seeing Travolta in a role where he had to admit that he had no idea what he was doing was a fascinating change of pace that suggested he was prepared to take on more mature roles. It’s no surprise that Travolta started working on more adult-oriented movies following Urban Cowboy, including Brian de Palma’s neo-noir masterpiece Blow Out and Bridges’ next romantic drama Perfect.