In this laughably dense comedy, outstanding comedian, Billy Crystal, stars as "city slicker", Mickey, who's on vacation at a dude ranch with his buddies, Ed and Jack. Their mission: to herd cattle, and "find themselves." For Mickey, this means figuring out what wrong with his seemingly good life (he's married, has two children, and a decent, if boring, job). On the cattle drive, things start to go wrong. Their leader, Curly, (Jack Palance) dies suddenly. Two other experienced cowboys - the only ones who can safely lead them back to civilization- dump the group and head back to town. Mickey and most of the group wish to forget the cattle and try to find their way back alone. Ed and Jack, however, wish to do the heroic thing and stick with the cattle. Eventually, they convince Crystal to join them, and they're off.
In one hilarious scene, Mickey has to help Curly deliver a calf (which he promptly names Norman). In another scene, he tries to brew coffee in a small, battery-operated brewer and scares the cattle into a stampede. More and more comical scenes follow and the movie never hits a lull in action or comedy.