"Midnight Cowboy" has never held the same fascination for me, though most national critics consider it one of the best films ever made.

I appreciate the performances by Jon Voight, as Joe Buck, and Dustin Hoffman, as Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, as well as their relationship, which develops over the course of the picture. But watching it again reminded me that their relationship is only a small part of the film, and most of the other vignettes, about displaced cowboy Joe's experiences in seedy Manhattan, are simply not as compelling.

Released in 1969, "Midnight Cowboy" also contains much of the same, flashy technique that marked Hoffman's first successful film, 1967's "The Graduate" (not to mention its many imitators). There are quick cuts, fuzzy flashbacks (sometimes in black and white), dizzying camera work and other technically distracting elements that often do not serve the story very well.

This one is being re-released to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The film is the same one we've had available for the past two-and-a-half decades, and is recommended here primarily for Hoffman and Voight, who offer a serious lesson in film acting.

"Midnight Cowboy," which won Oscars as best picture and for its direction (John Schlesinger) and screenplay (Waldo Salt), is rated R for violence, sex, nudity, profanity, vulgarity and drugs.