Sunday, May 17, 2009

Movie #5: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid


This is one of the great classic movies that I've always been telling myself I would see...one of the films that was the purpose of my "movies to see this summer" list. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 classic Western, starring Robert Redford and the late Paul Newman. Newman plays Butch Cassidy, one of the most affable outlaws ever to rob trains in the old West, and Redford plays his crack-shot partner, the Sundance Kid. Together they were two of the most successful bandits in the American West, until they get tired of being constantly pursued by some very determined and challenging trackers. So, with Sundance's girlfriend Etta, they head for Bolivia, where (despite minimal abilities in Spanish) they pick up with robbing banks again, enjoying times like "the good old days"...for the moment.

Although I found that this movie tended to drag a little bit at times, I enjoyed the plotline and the humor built in, especially when Butch and Sundance move to Bolivia. The real fun in this movie, however, is in the characters of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Butch is easily the nicest outlaw ever to be in film; he never seems to be robbing banks for more than fun and enough profit to allow him to live a nice lifestyle and treat his friends to drinks and such. Sundance has a bit more of a tougher edge to him, but he and Butch play off each other in some clever dialogue throughout. The ending is definitely the best part of this movie action-wise, but all things told it's a good film that deserves its title as a classic.

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