The Electric Horseman (1979)

68% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
53% of users liked it
(3,679 ratings)

A cowboy-turned-huckster unexpectedly finds love as he tries to regain his self-respect in this romantic comedy drama. Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) is a one-time rodeo star whose career as a cowboy has ground to a halt. He makes a good living as a spokesman for Ranch Breakfast, a sugar-coated… More A cowboy-turned-huckster unexpectedly finds love as he tries to regain his self-respect in this romantic comedy drama. Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) is a one-time rodeo star whose career as a cowboy has ground to a halt. He makes a good living as a spokesman for Ranch Breakfast, a sugar-coated cereal for kids, but he's lost most of his self-respect in the process; his boss, corporate mogul Hunt Sears (John Saxon), considers him a property rather than a human being, and Sonny has developed a serious problem with alcohol. Sears' cereal company is negotiating a highly profitable merger with another firm and brings Sonny to Las Vegas for a publicity stunt, in which Sonny, wearing a garish cowboy outfit complete with blinking lights, will ride on-stage at Caesar's Palace aboard prize-winning thoroughbred stallion Rising Star. When Sonny discovers Sears' men have drugged the horse so that it will be able to walk on an injured leg, he's appalled, and he rides Rising Star off the stage at Caesar's and into the Nevada desert, looking for grazing land where he and the horse can heal their wounds. Sears is shocked to discover that Sonny has run off with a 12 million dollars, and he realizes that Sonny knows enough to make his firm look very bad in the press, potentially scotching the merger. Sears files charges against Sonny and posts a reward for Rising Star's safe return, though he implies that it wouldn't bother him if Sonny died in the rescue attempt. Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda), a television journalist covering Sonny's Vegas appearance, is convinced that something is fishy and manages to catch up with him in the desert; as Hallie tries to get Sonny to tell her his story, the has-been cowboy and the city-girl reporter fall in love. The Electric Horseman also stars Valerie Perrine and Willie Nelson; the country & western star made his screen debut in this film and has a very memorable line about tequila and trailer hitches. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 2 hr.
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
Written By: Shelly Burton, Paul Gaer, Robert Garland
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 19, 1979 Wide
On DVD: Oct 10, 2000
Studio: MCA Universal Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
A moderately entertaining film, but no screen magic from Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. The pic is overlong, talky and diffused.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
At this point, I think it's reasonably safe to say that The Electric Horseman is the best American romantic comedy of 1979.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The Electric Horseman is the kind of movie they used to make.
Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media
Warmhearted romance with an anti-corporate perspective.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
In their second appearance, Redford and Fonda have charm and show good chemistry but, they are too old for this formulatic, old-fashioned romantic comedy about a burnt-out rodeo star and TV journalist
Richard T. Jameson, Parallax View
The Electric Horseman charms and ultimately conquers through high spirits.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Horseman falls far short of what it might have been, starting out smart but getting sloppier and more sentimental as it goes along.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Beguilingly sharp at first, but the later stages, with Fonda's toughie reporter tagging along for a story but going all mushy inside, wallow in sentimentality about integrity, ecology and all that jazz.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
colourful and engaging
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Loved Redford's garish cowboy costume!
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
The middle is heavy on romance between the two stars -- both megawatt powers in 1979 -- but the central plot, about a stolen horse for God's sake! -- doesn't carry the weight director Sydney Pollack might like us to believe.
, Film4
A slushy, sentimental, and silly love story.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
The Electric Horseman succeeds as an ode to individualism with a modern cowboy who makes a stand against a corporation and a New York reporter who loves her career above all else.

Read all 13 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

I didn't get to see the whole movie, but from what I saw it's very boring. I will see it again some day to give it another chance, though.
Leo L

definitely remember this from them younger years, hehehe cute.

Cast

            Robert Redford as Sonny Steele

            Jane Fonda as Hallie Martin

            Valerie Perrine as Charlotta

            John Saxon as Hunt Sears

            Willie Nelson as Wendell

            Allan Arbus as Danny Miles

            Nicolas Coster as Fitzgerald

            Wilford Brimley as Farmer

            Will Hare as Gus Atwater

            Basil Hoffman as Toland

            Timothy Scott as Leroy

            James B. Sikking as Dietrich

            James Kline as Tommy

            Frank Speiser as Bernie

            Quinn K. Redeker as Bud Broderick

            Lois Areno as Joanna Camden

            Sarah Harris as Lucinda

            Tasha Zemrus as Louise

            James Novak as Dennis

            Patricia Blair
            
            Sylvie Strauss
            
            Lois Hamilton as Joanna

            Brendan Kelly
            
            Roger Lowe
            
            Vic Vallard
            
            Gary D. Liddiard
            
            Sydney Pollack as Man Who Makes a Pass at Alice

            Bob Barrett
            
            X.V. Kelly
            
            Debra L. Maxwell
            
            Michele Heyeden
            
            Robin Timm
            
            Gary M. Fox
            
            Richard Perlmutter
            
            Carol Eileen Montgomery
            
            Theresa Ann Dent
            
            Perry Sheehan Adair
            
            Sarge Allen
            
            Richard Knoll
            
            Angelo Giouzelis
            
            Mark Jamison
            
            Sheila B. Wakely
            
            Gary Shermaine
            
            Jerry Kurland
            
            J. Carlton Adair
            
            Charles J. Monahan
            
            George W. Etter
            
            Raymond G. Maupin
            
            Red McIlvaine
            
            Frank Nicholas
            
            Johnny Magnus
            
            Bob Bailey
            
See full cast