Film review: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

Isn’t it called PMS?
I’m taking a brief respite from Judgment at Nuremberg for something a little light.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is the 1993 Gus van Sant-directed feature-length female sanitary pad advert with a killer soundtrack that includes the stellar voice of k d lang.

Actually, it isn’t a tampon ad but it certainly had that feel. A feature-length tampon ad for the early 90s. Cowgirls is like a mix between The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love and Cityslickers.

I thought the movie was very average. It had all the suggestions of being like My Own Private Idaho, with the kind of beautifully scenic photography one comes to expect from van Sant and a delicious soundtrack care of kd lang.

What is it about? Sissy (Uma Thurman), a woman with oversized thumbs (and I mean oversized) leaves home as a kid to hitchhike her way across the USA. She didn’t pluck her eyebrows and shave her legs, but was encouraged to model for The Countessa’s (John Hurt) new range of deoderant. The shoot takes place at a women’s health retreat in the desert, which is soon beseiged by a bunch of cowgirls with one of them falling in love with Sissy.

I give this 2.5 stars. The half is for the name of Sissy’s love interest – Bonanza Jellybeans.