Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: George Roy Hill
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones
From: 20th Century Fox
It's time for me to catch up here. I saw nothing on Sunday night, but viewed this on Monday. Tonight I'll post my review of what was watched last night:
Boy, I got vision, & the rest of the world has bifocals.
There is no shortage of options when it comes to viewing this famous light-hearted Western. As it is available in 4K on Prime, that was chosen by myself. As the cinematography was one of the Academy Awards it won, I loved seeing the picturesque scenery in such high quality.
The titular duo were real life bandits in the halcyon days of the Wild West; the movie claims this was “a mostly true” recount of them, although that is using the phrase liberally. They constantly rob trains, pissing off someone who can afford to create “a super posse” to track them down. The heat is too much so they plus Kid's consort Etta flee to South America. Light in tone, the film never becomes a dopey parody or something that avoids some serious topics. In fact, this addresses such ideas as “people destined to a dark fate no matter what they do” and “the Wild West is not so wild now in the turn of the 20th century when a bicycle has made its way to the are and it won't be too long before automobiles are seen.” So yes, there are also melancholy moments.
It's a movie that like The Sting (which brought together the main players) which is effortlessly charming. Solid direction and two legendary leads who play off each other definitely are solid assets. But I can't ignore Katherine Ross & her performance as she was also great with what she was given-as a lady who romances Kid but she's also pals with Cassidy and it's easy to let your imagination run wild there! More seriously, another great bonus is the score from Burt Bacharach-Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head is a classic tune but the other music on the soundtrack was also pleasing to the ear & worked in context to what was on screen. When there's action it is thrilling; all those elements make for a famous Western & it's a crying shame Newman & Redford did not co-star in more pictures together.
No comments:
Post a Comment