Monday, September 1, 2014

495. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969
Directed by George Roy Hill










My mother has a slight obsession with all things Butch Cassidy, so I grew up watching this movie (although the part with Katharine Ross undressing was always fast forwarded).  Unfortunately, this obsession led to me being forced to read some pretty nauseating literature.  In any case, this is a movie I am quite familiar and would recommend to anyone interested in the western genre.

The film follows the adventures of Butch and Sundance as they attempt to elude a posse of lawmen after a robbery goes south.   Their escape takes them all the way to Bolivia, where, along with Sundance's girlfriend Etta Place, they become even bigger outlaws then they ever were in the States.

If the film was crap, the chemistry between Redford and Newman would redeem it completely.  Fortunately, the film isn't complete crap, though I do still have some complaints.

Did anyone else feel like the ending was kind of ripping off Bonnie and Clyde?  The last scene is not historically accurate so it is not like it is just a coincidence that the endings are similar.  I realize they weren't exactly the same but I couldn't help comparing the two and I have to say, Bonnie and Clyde came out on top.

Still, a very entertaining movie with absolutely fantastic acting although get ready for some loooong chase scenes.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Butch Cassidy's sister would often visit the set and was amazed at how accurate Paul Newman's portrayal of him was.

Katharine Ross was forbidden to be on set by George Roy Hill when she wasn't filming because she operated a camera.  Ass.

Etta Place's fate and true identity are still unknown.

#73 in AFI's top 100.

Trailer:




9 comments:

  1. Scream.. this is the third attempt to reply to this.. something at Googlemail is playing silly buggers, and my reply keeps getting lost in the send process.
    i will try again, but the sparkling original wit of the first attempt will be impossible to recapture...

    I've never been blown away by this one as I'm supposed to be.. It's.. OK.. but nothing more.
    When you get past the star appeal , the eye candy and phwaarrr factor of the (I guess) good looking leads.. is there anything else to ot?.. I'm afraid I think not.
    OK, I dread that I'm going to start sounding like some tedious film buff snob here.. but it is very well made, highly polished mainstream Hollywood product, that I found rather empty..
    Oh dear.. sorry.. that sounds like I'm asking it to be something it is not.. like I'm hankering after something filled with deep meaningful insights into the soul and human condition angst.. something like that lovely Mr. Robert Bresson might make..
    Ooops.. sorry, valid point, and I apologise. This isn't that sort of film.
    It's just that I can see the studio exec meeting "Gimmie a high gloss film with.. Redford.. and that other good looking one the women drool over.. McQueen?.. no, the prettier one... and as it's the late 60's.. I want lots of youth rebellion and anti authority stuff.. you know.. shooting police etc.. in it"
    Look, it is fine at what it is.. I've sat through both far worse 'look at me I'm gorgeous'star vehicles . I've also sat through MUCH more boring deep and meaningful so called intelligent films, so I guess I now just shut up .. and see if this damn thing will post this time.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ray! I was hoping you would notice that I have been writing more.

      I understand what you mean. There are a few movies that I have watched and thought "this is way too Hollywood". Independence Day comes to mind...

      Maybe you are right and I wouldn't be quite so generous if it wasn't for how handsome I find the male leads...

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  2. I love this movie!! It is one of my all time favorites! I love movies with enduring friendships and in this one, there is not only the friendship of Butch and Sundance, and also the friendship they share with Etta. It is not historically accurate, but who cares? It's fun, the men are good looking and it's beautiful and entertaining. And that is my review! :)

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  3. I watched this movie once and did not like it. This movie runs on two speeds slow and slower. Now I sometimes enjoy slow paced films, but this movie seemed to have no point to it at all. It was like ten minutes of story stretched out to almost two hours.Did anything ever happen in this movie? Nothing interesting, that's for sure. I fail to understand why this movie is so praised. I really enjoy a lot of classics, but could pass on this one.

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  4. Thanks Larry! We are really polarized in our opinions of this film! I agree that it was slow paced, but I can't honestly say I didn't enjoy it.

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  5. I will stand firm in my opinions and add that I think it was perfectly paced. :)
    Can you tell it's one of my faves?

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  6. Wow, this really polarized people!
    I tend to be on the positive side here. It is the mother of all buddy movies and that relationship is the point of the movie rather than the plot. I kind of liked that.

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  7. I thought it was pretty great. Sure, plenty of one-liners built around the charismatic delivery, but at least it was two actors who can do that beautifully without mugging at the camera.

    When I first watched this, well, longer ago than I might be willing to admit, it was all about the rollicking good time. Who doesn't like a movie like that? But watching it again now it reminds me of No Country for Old Men where (in my assessment) Javier Bardem represents time itself and Josh Brolin is the man who tried to outrun slow, steady, immovable time. And here they were, their time had come, their card was marked. The hired posse came after them, relentless, frustrating them with their never-changing speed. With this line of thinking in my head, the pivotal scene became when they tried to seek refuge with a friendly sheriff who told them "It's over, don't you get that? Your time is over and you're gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where."

    BTW, whoever wrote the plot outline on Wikipedia completely missed the point and described the famous ending as "Confident of their ability to escape, the pair charge out of the building, guns blazing, directly into a hail of bullets". Huh?

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