David Sterritt Christian Science Monitor Jun 16, 2026

There are a few amusing moments, provided largely by Jack Palance as a Marlboro Man type, but most of the comedy is a blend of silly slapstick and pallid pop psychology.

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Candice Russell South Florida Sun-Sentinel May 29, 2026

There are surprising plots twists that work despite the change of tone.

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Birmingham Mail Staff Birmingham Mail May 29, 2026

City Slickers is very funny and at times, sometimes moving and occasionally very well photographed indeed.

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Peter Rainer Los Angeles Times May 28, 2026

The funny sequences and dumb jokes in "City Slickers" are so much more entertaining than the male-bonding blather that you wonder what the filmmakers had in mind.

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Bob Strauss Los Angeles Daily News May 28, 2026

A verbally witty, almost schizophrenically sentimental cowboy dramedy.

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Bill Cosford Miami Herald May 28, 2026 2/4

Where's the beef?

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John Powers L.A. Weekly May 28, 2026

Gag-laden and emotionally bogus, this yowza-yowza comedy is Iron John as written by Neil Simon.

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George Monaghan Minneapolis Star Tribune May 28, 2026 8/10

Palance steals the show.

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Robert W. Butler Kansas City Star May 28, 2026 3/4

"City Slickers" is a feel-good film that manages to be extremely funny without descending into the sort of tripe humor that is standard nowadays.

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Bill Brownstein Montreal Gazette May 28, 2026 3.5/5

Billy and his boys bring a hilariously manic frenzy to the first part of the film. So much so that they just can't sustain that rhythm throughout.

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Mary MacGoris Irish Independent May 28, 2026

All told it's a very agreeable and enjoyable way of passing a couple of hours.

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Richard Freedman Newark Star-Ledger May 28, 2026 2.5/4

Strongest performance here under Ron Underwood's taut direction -- and a sheer delight to watch -- is from Palance.

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Anthony Lane Independent on Sunday May 28, 2026

The narrative rhythms feel slothful and grumpy.

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Bill DuPre News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) May 28, 2026 3/4

"City Slickers" is a prefabricated tour guide to the id, an enjoyable comedy that gets just a little gummy with a pretentious dose of free-range group therapy.

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Joe Leydon Houston Post (Texas) May 28, 2026 3/4

You don't have to be a graying baby boomer to appreciate how truly funny, and how funnily true, so much of it is.

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Jack Mathews Newsday May 28, 2026 4/4

Few comedians ever get the opportunity to glory in a vehicle so perfectly tailored for them at the peak of their popularity. For Crystal, and his fans, "City Slickers" is it.

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Jeff Millar Houston Chronicle May 28, 2026

Notwithstanding their predictability, the laughs are of rather high quality and in satisfying profusion.

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Philip French Observer (UK) May 28, 2026

City Slickers is inventive, funny and genuinely affecting as it observes the discrepancy between the characters and the familiar horse-opera situations they find themselves in.

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Malcolm L. Johnson Hartford Courant May 28, 2026 2.5/4

"City Slickers" boasts a clever concept.

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Ted Mahar Oregonian May 28, 2026 3/4

Most of what follows is predictable down to small details, but the process is so well developed, and so are the characters, that the trip is fun all the way.

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