Even Cowgirls Get the Blues | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Gus Van Sant |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by | Gus Van Sant |
Based on |
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins |
Starring | |
Narrated by | Tom Robbins |
Music by | |
Cinematography |
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Edited by |
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Production
company |
Fourth Vision
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Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language |
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Budget | $8 million |
Box office | $1.7 million |
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues | ||||
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Soundtrack album by k.d. lang | ||||
Released | November 2, 1993 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Label | Rhino | |||
k.d. lang chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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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.