Rating of
3.5/4
The original Buddy Movie and a Must See!
mdtinney - wrote on 09/27/09
"I wasn't cheating." Sundance's lines at the beginning of the film ring true. At least they ring true for his card game. When it came to everything else, he was hardly a straight player."Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" came out in 1969, and it has since become legend. One of the last films to come out during the PG era, it was extremely influential. It changed a lot about cinema, particularly the way that dialogue was delivered. It also changed the scope of what a "buddy" movie really is. Butch Cassidy, played by Paul Newman, is the brains, the comic, the atypical one. Robert Redford's Sundance is the typical Western star, silent and stern like Clint Eastwood in "Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and determined like Gene Hackman in "French Connection." Together, what one gets is an offbeat dramedy that is surprisingly touching and warmhearted. The film starts out slowly, taking its time to wade through the first scene. When it gets its legs underneath itself, it starts running. Before long, our two heroes are robbing banks, trains, and whatever else they can. Katherine Ross has a wonderful supporting turn as Etta Place, the love interest of Sundance. When the two decide to head to Bolivia, they let her tag along. At first, they live clean lives, free of crime and mischievous behavior. But that doesn't last long, and our heroes are at it again, creating trouble for themselves, trouble that leads to a far too often copied ending. Overall, this is an entertaining, captivating, unconventional, wry, and touching film that will please almost everyone.
