City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly’s Gold sees Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) refreshed after the experiences of his first Wild West adventure (see 1991’s City Slickers), and yet apprehensive about turning the big four O.  To make matters worse he is being haunted by visions of Curly (Jack Palance) the abrasive and gruff, but ultimately loveable, cowboy that died whilst guiding Mitch on his initial adventure. 

Mitch soon discovers the reasons for the sightings; Curly had a twin brother, Duke.  And Duke is after the treasure map hidden within Curly’s old cowboy hat, which is now in Mitch’s possession.  Apparently Duke and Curly’s dad robbed a train many years ago and buried the treasure somewhere in the Wild West and now it is just sitting out there waiting to be found.  Mitch decides that rather than just hand the map over to Duke he will accompany him on his search for the treasure.  Mitch also decides to take his best friend Phil (Daniel Stern) and estranged, but very funny, brother Glen (John Lovitz hilariously hamming it up) along for the ride.  What follows is an entertaining romp filled with humour, action and of course male bonding.  However the question remains is the treasure real, or just a legend? 

The cast all seem to be having a lot of fun which translates into great onscreen chemistry.  Crystal displays his usual onscreen charisma but Lovitz is easily the comic standout; with Palance a close second as the twin of his scene stealing character for the original film (even if the unknown twin story slightly stretched credibility – but then it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without Palance).   

City Slickers 2 doesn’t pretend to be anything other than an enjoyable 90 minutes and the breathtaking western backdrops provide excellent eye candy.  The world wasn’t really calling out for a sequel to the original City Slickers, but that isn’t to say City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly’s Gold can’t be fun, and it is, in spades!