City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Weiland
Produced by	Billy Crystal
Written by	Billy Crystal Lowell Ganz Babaloo Mandel
Starring	Billy Crystal Daniel Stern Jon Lovitz Jack Palance Patricia Wettig
Music by	Marc Shaiman
Cinematography	Adrian Biddle
Edited by	William M. Anderson Armen Minasian
Production company	Castle Rock Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 10, 1994 (1994-06-10)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$43,622,150

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold is a 1994 comedy film directed by Paul Weiland. It is the sequel to City Slickers (1991) and stars Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Jon Lovitz and Daniel Stern.

Although a mild financial success, the film did not reach the popularity of the first, receiving a generally negative response (a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes). It was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Remake or Sequel.

Plot

A year after the events of the first film, Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) is a much happier and livelier man, having moved out of the city and become station manager at the New York radio station where he works, where he has employed his best friend, Phil Berquist (Daniel Stern). However, he is being plagued with nightmares about his deceased friend, Curly, and comes to believe that he may still be alive. On his 40th birthday, Mitch sees a man resembling Curly on the train, which does nothing to placate his worries, and later finds a treasure map belonging to Lincoln Washburn hidden in Curly's old hat, albeit with a missing corner. Mitch and Phil investigate the contents of the map in the public library and learn that Lincoln Washburn, Curly's father, was a train robber in the Old West and in 1908 infamously stole and hid one million dollars in gold bullion in the deserts near Las Vegas. With an impending trip to Las Vegas for a convention, Mitch decides to venture out to find the gold (which would now be worth twenty million) along with Phil and his estranged younger brother, Glen (Jon Lovitz).

Several mishaps ensue, such as Glen accidentally burning a hole in the map, Mitch almost falling off a cliff while retrieving it and Phil believing he was bitten by a snake while he actually sat on a cactus. They are ambushed by the two cowboys who they bought their supplies from, who demand the map, since Phil recklessly told them all about the gold. Just as the cowboys are poised to kill them, a man appears and fights them off. He introduces himself as Duke (Jack Palance), Curly's identical twin brother, and explains that long ago, his father had plans to find the gold with his sons once he was no longer being monitored, but he died before. On their mother's deathbed, their mother gave Curly the map, and Curly contacted Duke to find him so that they could find the gold together, but he died on the cattle drive. Duke learned from Cookie that Mitch had Curly's belongings, and so sought him out, though Mitch believed he was Curly. Though Duke is prepared to take the map and find the gold by himself, Mitch chastises him for his attitude, reasoning that Curly would not approve. Out of respect for his brother, Duke relents and allows the others to accompany him and share the gold.

A reckless act by Mitch causes a stampede in which the map and almost all their supplies are lost. Thanks to Glen's memory, they are able to press on and find the location of the cave where the gold is hidden. They eventually find the gold, but are confronted by two armed cowboys also seeking the gold. In the ensuing fight, Glen is shot and apparently killed, but Duke discovers the bullets to be blanks with red paint. At that moment, the organizer of the cattle drive, Clay Stone (Noble Willingham) appears along with some of their old friends, such as Ira and Barry Shalowitz. Clay Stone explains that the cowboys are his sons and he has been looking for Duke for some time. Having left the cattle business, Clay Stone is now making a living taking men on a trip to find the Washburn treasure, which is revealed to be lead painted with gold. Though Mitch, Phil and Glen feel lost, Duke remains convinced that the gold is out there somewhere, and stays behind as the others return to Las Vegas.

However, in his hotel room, Mitch is visited by Duke, who reveals that the entire time, he knew where the gold truly was and intended to keep it all for himself, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Duke also reveals to Mitch that the one thing Mitch had to find out for himself is honesty. Through Mitch's skepticism, Duke reveals that he had the missing corner of the map, which points to where Lincoln reburied the gold in 1909, and presents a bar of gold to Mitch as a gift. Mitch tries to scratch the gold off with a knife, and screams in joy upon realizing that the gold is real after all.

Cast

• Billy Crystal as Mitch Robbins
• Daniel Stern as Phil Berquist
• Jon Lovitz as Glenn Robbins
• Jack Palance as Duke Washburn
• Patricia Wettig as Barbara Robbins
• Noble Willingham as Clay Stone
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Bud
• Bill McKinney as Matt
• Josh Mostel as Barry Shalowitz
• David Paymer as Ira Shalowitz
• Lindsay Crystal as Holly Robbins
• Beth Grant as Lois
• Jayne Meadows as the voice of Mitch's mother
• Jennifer Crystal as jogger
• Bob Balaban as Dr. Jeffrey Sanborn (uncredited)
• Frank Welker as Norman (voice)

Reception

The movie gained a negative reception.

The movie debuted at No. 3.

External links

• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold at IMDb
• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold at Box Office Mojo
• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold at Rotten Tomatoes