Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (film)

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gus Van Sant
Produced by	Eric McLeod Laurie Parker Gus Van Sant
Screenplay by	Gus Van Sant
Based on	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Starring	Uma Thurman Lorraine Bracco Angie Dickinson Noriyuki "Pat" Morita Keanu Reeves John Hurt Rain Phoenix
Narrated by	Tom Robbins
Music by	k.d. lang Ben Mink
Cinematography	John J. Campbell Eric Alan Edwards
Edited by	Curtiss Clayton Gus Van Sant
Production company	Fourth Vision
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date	September 13, 1993 (1993-09-13) (TIFF) May 20, 1994 (1994-05-20)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English German
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$1.7 million

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly	B
Los Angeles Times
NME	(8/10)
Q
Robert Christgau
Rolling Stone

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film based on Tom Robbins' 1976 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Gus Van Sant (credited as Gus Van Sant, Jr.) and starred an ensemble cast led by Uma Thurman, Lorraine Bracco, Angie Dickinson, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Keanu Reeves, John Hurt, and Rain Phoenix. Robbins himself was the narrator. The soundtrack was sung entirely by k.d. lang. The film was dedicated to the late River Phoenix.

The film tells the story of Sissy Hankshaw, a woman born with a mutation (she would not call it a defect) giving her enormously large thumbs. The film is a transgressive romp, covering topics from homosexuality and free love to drug use and political rebellion to animal rights and body odor and religions. Sissy makes the most of her thumbs by becoming a hitchhiker. Her travels eventually take her to New York, where she becomes a model for a homosexual feminine hygiene products mogul, known as The Countess, a few years later, he introduces her to his "beauty ranch" the Rubber Rose Ranch. The main plot revolves around the cowgirls who work at the ranch after they violently take over and drug the endangered whooping cranes who nest along the lake on their land making the once migratory birds stay. The cowgirls end up in a showdown with government agencies because the cranes won't leave the ranch and the cowgirls refuse to allow the men on the ranch to take the cranes. Sissy and the ranch leader, Bonanza Jellybean have a brief love affair. After a fatal shootout between the cowgirls and the various agencies, the cranes leave, and Sissy takes over running the ranch.