“I have vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals.” Butch

Most of What Follows is True – from prologue

It seems like we always remember the good things - when someone is dead and gone we tend to think of the bright spots of their character rather than some of the flaws they exhibited when they walked among us – and that is how Director George Roy Hill treated the legend of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The freeze-frame ending underscores how Hill kept the story sweet and light so we’d remember his characters pleasantly, not how they ended.

Hill cast superstar Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, Hud), an unknown Robert Redford, and Katharine Ross (The Graduate) as the major characters to populate his “end of the old West” drama. Interestingly, Sam Peckinpah directed a film about the same characters and released the same year - The Wild Bunch was a dark, fatalistic tale, while Butch Cassidy was anything but. The Wild Bunch became legendary for the quarts of blood spilled during the graphic shooting sequences that critics dubbed “ballet of death,” while Butch Cassidy, despite having a number of killings, eschewed graphic violence and emphasized the “fun side” of being an outlaw.

My analysis is that the movie has a big reputation simply because of the easy-going friendship portrayed by Newman and Redford. Watching the film itself leaves me a little baffled as to its greatness, with the incongruous musical sequences inserted here and there into the story. What we have here are two watchable actors who are having fun and hardly being asked to act. Director George Roy Hill (The Sting) made a wise marketing decision when he aimed the film squarely at women: He knew the men would come anyway. The result is a buddy film that defies being pigeonholed as simply “another western.”

The story roughly outlines a pair of train robbers who rob the train too often, thereby unleashing vengeance on themselves in the form of a tirelessly pursuing faceless posse. They resolve to go to Bolivia to escape their pursuers and pursue their chosen profession in a new land. In between there are idyllic sequences with Katharine Ross and Burt Bacharach music, the main ones involve a bicycle ride, a photo montage of the trio’s trip to NYC en route to Bolivia, and a bank robbery montage in Bolivia.

The acting here is really not acting much at all. Paul Newman, who did towering work in The Hustler, Hud, and Cool Hand Luke was just his amiable, charming self. While unknown Robert Redford got a real career boost after portraying the taciturn, dangerous Sundance Kid. He hardly had to open his mouth, he just had to look into the camera and that’s about the extent of his performance here. Katharine Ross who had got praise for her part in The Graduate was just a nice, sensuous heartthrob for the guys, as Newman and Redford were for the women.

The cinematography is by Conrad Hall (Cool Hand Luke, Jennifer 8) and is top notch, varying from sepia toned, through golden brown, to full color. The editing is good, but has a few misfires as when Newman kicks Ted Cassidy (Lurch) in the privates, you can see where the film jumps at the splice where the two clips were edited together.

The Burt Bacharach score with Hal David lyrics is totally incongruous to the storyline and was inserted as a crowd pleaser. If you can think of the music from TV game shows of the era, you will have a good idea what the music is like. It firmly dates itself as late sixties, early seventies and is as welcome as the polyester Nehru jackets of the same era. The 12 minute Burt Bacharach score bagged an Oscar even though it is the worst part of the package in my opinion. So much for the Academy.

The Fox Special Edition DVD contains a 2.35:1 theatrical format copy of the film, a director's commentary, a very informative "making of" featurette, filmed interviews with the three stars, and subtitles.

Like George Roy Hill’s other film The Sting, I want to like this film more than I do. But Butch Cassidy, like The Sting is dated and shows its age too much to be as highly touted as it is.

Thanks for reading!


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie