The film opens in Texas with Joe Buck (Jon Voight) quitting his job as a dishwasher and announcing he's headed for New York City with a suitcase, a radio and the clothes on his back. His plan is to make money as a male gigolo as he's heard that NYC is full of wealthy women, single or married, old or young, white or black, who would go crazy for a night of unbridled passion with a real Texas cowboy. Joe winds up discovering he's a bit socially inept just on the bus ride, as he's often brushed off or ignored by fellow passengers who find his twang and outfit a bit odd. He perseveres, however, and upon arriving in New York City immediately tries to start up business, asking women where the Statue of Liberty is. When he gets a positive response, it takes only seconds for him to try and make a move. After a few failed attempts, he beds one middle-aged woman and they have their fun, only to have her screaming at him later when he asks her for payment. Joe actually winds up giving her $20 out of pity.
On the streets, Joe runs into a shrimpy and mouthy guy named Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), who tells Joe he can hook him up with a big-time pimp. Naturally, Rizzo requests a finder's fee for this, and gets $20 for it. Joe meets the older gentleman (John McGiver, who you may remember as the jewelry merchant in Breakfast at Tiffany's) but discovers this guy is a crazy Bible-thumper and not at all a pimp. Joe runs off and returns to his hotel room for the night.
As the days pass, Joe is having no success on the gigolo front and eventually is locked out of his hotel room for non-payment. He isn't even allowed to get his suitcase. Desperate, Joe tells himself he has no other choice but to become a male gigolo for both sexes, and he hangs out at a seedy area where male prostitutes wait for "Johns". One guy (Bob Balaban, in his film debut) approaches him, and they go to a movie house. In the theater, Bob's character (who is unnamed in the credits other than "Young Student") eventually goes down on Joe. Later on, the student says he has no money and can't pay Joe, which enrages our cowboy something fierce. Joe begins to beat him up and demands the student's watch, but ultimately decides to just let him go. (Worth noting: Larry King interviewed Hoffman in 1985 and in that interview, Hoffman stated that moviegoers left in droves during this scene at an early preview for the film.)
The next day while passing a diner, Joe spots Rizzo at the counter. He starts to rough him up but Rizzo apologizes and offers Joe a place to stay. Joe reluctantly accepts and they head to Rizzo's apartment, which is actually on the second or third floor of a condemned building. Rizzo, who has a bad limp and an even worse cough, immediately finds Joe useful as Joe is able to haul up a cooler that's "been sitting there for days" apparently abandoned in the building. The two strike up a business relationship to hustle together. The room has no heat but it's livable as long as the cockroaches stay away from the perishables in the icebox.
We learn more about Joe through several dream sequences, and as he tells his story to Rizzo. Joe was raised by his grandmother, but often was neglected by her just the same. Joe was very much in love with a girl named Annie, but that relationship was destroyed when a group of hooligans sexually assaulted both of them after he angered the group at an earlier time. Annie wound up in an asylum, and Joe decided to join the military. Rizzo likewise shares his backstory. His father was a shoeshiner but died after years of breathing in toxic subway fumes. Rizzo doesn't want to "stoop" to doing the same in life and wants to go to Florida. The duo bond further, often sharing in the profits that begin to trickle in for Joe. Rizzo meanwhile is also teaching how to scrape by on the streets, stealing fruit and whatnot.
One day while eating at a diner, a couple approach Joe, take his picture and hand him a flyer. It's an invitation to a party. Joe assumes he was specifically approached and this party will be a major affair. Rizzo accompanies him to a dank alley where this party takes place. It's a shindig full of colorful characters, and many of them are smoking and drinking whatever it is they happen to get their hands on. Joe takes what he thinks is a cigarette, but it winds up amarijuana. After following that up with a pill, he starts to hallucinate. He leaves with a woman named Shirley (Brenda Vaccaro) and actually gets her to agree to the payment before they have sex, $20 for the night plus $1 for Rizzo's cab fare back to the apartment. As they leave, Rizzo falls down a flight of stairs but claims he's fine.
Back at Shirley's apartment, Joe has trouble performing. Shirley isn't angry and they decide to play Scribbage (a dice game of the era marketed by the company behind Scrabble). She makes fun of him and wonders aloud if he's gay and that's why he had trouble. He answers that by ravaging her, and they have a rollicking session. Both parties are happy the next morning, and in fact Shirley sets up an appointment for Joe with a friend of hers next. It would appear Joe's career, if you will, is finally up and running. However, Joe returns home to find Rizzo in even worse health.
Joe realizes that Rizzo may not have much life left, and Rizzo wants to get to Miami. Joe decides to jump the fence once again and get picked up by a man. The man, however, changes his mind at the last moment. Joe is not going to let this happen again and he winds up assaulting the man after being given just $10. The man is obviously hiding more, and Joe kills him without hesitation, then steals his wallet. Joe buys bus tickets for he and Rizzo to get to Miami. On the way, while at a rest stop, Joe picks up new clothes for them both so they'll fit in better down in the Sunshine State. They're soon almost in Miami, and Joe is speaking to Rizzo about how they'll get real work down there and start their lives anew. However, Joe doesn't hear a response, checks on Rizzo and finds that his friend has passed away. The bus is stopped, but the driver tells Joe they can't really do anything until they get to Miami, which is soon. The driver tells everyone someone is ill and everything is fine. The bus ride continues with Joe sitting with his arm around Rizzo.
Midnight Cowboy was a very successful film, grossing $44.7M versus its $3.6M budget. The subject matter didn't scare away the Academy either, as the film scored seven Oscar nominations and three wins (Best Picture, Best Director for John Schlesinger and Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Hey, remember the film The Great Waldo Pepper? Hollywood has had Waldo Salt and Waldo Pepper!) My personal verdict? I understood the film. It was followable, and I can see why it was controversial for its time. With what it was up against in 1970 for Best Picture, I suppose I can see why it won since, with the possible exception of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the other nominated films don't really scream out "Best Picture" to me (Anne of the Thousand Days, Hello, Dolly! and Z). While I liked the film, I'm not necessarily sure I understand what makes it revered on the level it is to most film buffs and historians.
Never saw this one and honestly can't say I was ever really interested in it. I don't think I knew it was an X-rated film to begin with. I like the synopsis, thanks!
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