Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
By: George Roy Hill (director), William Goldman (writer)
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross
Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close.
Yet another classic that I took far too long to see, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid manages to take the roughneck Western genre and and spin it into something charming. Robbing trains and avoiding the law isn’t something I would normally expect to be delightful, but somehow this film makes it happen, and to great effect.
You’ve all probably already seen this one, so I doubt I need to go into much detail, here. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are outlaws in the Old West. The actual plot line isn’t anything new, but it’s the chemistry between the two leads that elevates the story to something worth watching. Both Newman and Redford are tremendously likable, and perfection together. They make the sort of pair you can’t imagine being apart, giving the film an underlying sense of loyalty upon which the plot is pinned. It’s this sentiment that buoys the movie and carries it through, separates it from every other outlaw Western flick in existence. To suggest it’s worth watching is an understatement; multiple viewings are definitely in order.
Eeeeeeee reading this review makes me want to watch this all over again. One of my favourite things about this was the inclusion of Etta; and not just in the “oh and here’s the woman character” but in that she had a relationship and friendship that blended and fit within their scope of bromance. I know bromance is the new fad in movies these days, so while it’s not going away anytime soon, I’d wish they’d at least have female characters like Etta in them.