Great entertainment, but it could have been perfect ...

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2011)

If my review was a medical diagnosis, I would say "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" suffers from a benign case of cinematic schizophrenia, just as if "The Sting" featured a scene similar to the tollbooth massacre in "The Godfather".
As much as I genuinely enjoyed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", I had the strange feeling the film was constantly hesitating between two different approaches : comedy or drama, and if only had the director, George Roy Hill made a choice in both, the movie would've been perfect. And here is the first dilemma: as a comedy, it features some of the funniest lines and exchanges from American Cinema, which made the friendship more appealing in its comical aspect, and didn't fit the courses of dramatic events that would lead to the heroes' demise. While "The Wild Bunch" was a dramatic friendship story, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" had to be a buddy movie.
My mention of Peckipah's iconic and superior film is not fortuitous. It has a lot in common with "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" as both film embody the agony of the Old West myth through the introductions of new vehicles such as the car for the 'bunch' and the bicycle for the 'Butch', and the similar plot lines featuring tough guys running away, whether it's from a bunch of bounty hunters or a posse, the escape is like a symbolic exile, when the civilization has conquered the west and the only valuable direction is the South, Mexico or Bolivia  countries not contaminated by the progress, where the vestiges of the Old West still remain, where banks can still be robbed.
The modern take on the Western genre is not without a bit of nostalgia, on which the use of sepia in both films is the most eloquent expression. However, western is a difficult genre to handle and probably the less compatible with the genre-binding approach. You can amplify its effects, as did Sergio Leone, increase its level of violence like Sam Peckinpah, transcend its ugliness to a hypnotic documentary-like realism like Altman with "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" or turning it into a sweet enchanting romantic comedy with self-derision as the best way to translate the way of old west frontier idealism, like "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". But as tempting as it is, you can't do everything and I felt like Hill wanted to try every tendency to stay on the safe side, and as a credit to his talent, it's a miracle that it didn't ruin the film.
Although I admire the directorial job of George Roy Hill, I suspect the desire to do something modern was inspired from the current streaks of realistic films of the 'New Hollywood' era. I mentioned, "Wild Bunch", "The Graduate", "Bonnie and Clyde" emulated in both the opening and the concluding scene. The last shootout was a deliberate way to keep a touch of realism in the film, reminding that guns needed to be loaded too. And the explosion during the bank robbery is one of the most convincing and spectacular from any film, even by today's standards. Now, how could such perfectionism have allowed the dramatic scene when they kill the Bandidos, the slow motion was ridiculously over the top, it didn't fit the film at all.
And the film features many moments that shouldn't have been there. The script introduces us to funny or colorful characters like the News reader from the gang, or the scene-stealer Strother Martin, and the way they act label them as comic relief characters, and then they are instantly killed, in the coldest and most brutal way. The shocking effect made me feel cheated. The movie's mood had to be a cheerful comedy with some dramatic undertones, and the running gag involving the Woodcock character would never have me expected the film to turn in such a dramatic series. The movie had to be a Western "Sting".
The film's modernity relies more efficiently on its spicy humor, and the great score from Burt Bacharach, which provide a smooth iconoclast, feel to a film. But I guess the movie finally grew on me, thanks to the great chemistry going between Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and how the two characters completed each other. The lines they exchange are priceless, and full of wit, the cliff scene, the Bolivia arrival, or the issues with Spanish languages were absolutely hysterical, the kind of humor all relying on timing and body languages and that creates the charm of such movies like "The Graduate". It's ironic that the movie features Katharine Ross, Ellen Robinson, again in the middle of a love triangle, but Etta Place, not the typical female action-killjoy, was the icing on the cake that provided the romantic touch and a reason for the delightful musical interludes, on the top of them, one of the film's defining moments, the bicycle ride.
All the way, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is the perfect example of a great film that could have been even greater if the director stay focused on one specific tone. I learned in the commentary that Hill was surprised at Newman's lack of seriousness while playing Butch, but it was the right tone, how could you make a drama out of such an outstanding script. William Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay is a comedic goldmine transcended by Newman and Redford's chemistry, a perfect comedy works on the body languages, the looks, at one point, there's one smile Redford gives, and never had a smile made me laugh so hard.
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is redeemed by its wit, its beautiful cinematography by the master Conrad Hall, the score, the acting, and more than anything, its entertaining value. It's a classic, entertaining, Western but it could have been a masterpiece of unconventionality