A very impressive western with excellent performances from both Redford and Newman

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2013)

I was very impressed with this Redford & Newman Western. The dialogue is endlessly quotable and the film contains probably the best on screen chemistry (in Redford and Newman) between 2 lead actors that I think I've ever seen. To me, at times, they were more like a married couple than a double act. Who can forget the funny exchange between the 2 men before they jump from the top of a cliff into the river? Also, the critical moment where Butch mentions to Sundance that he's never shot anyone before. Of course, there is also the classic line 'Do you think you used enough dynamite Butch?' These were just a few funny moments that stood out for me, but there were several more throughout the film.
The plot sees our 2 outlaws Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (Newman and Redford respectively) robbing the Union Pacific Flyer Train - which is an idea that the original leader of Butch's gang Harvey Logan (Ted Cassidy) had come up with. When Butch defeats Logan in a knife fight, he takes his old gang and robs the train. The gang are successful the first time, but when they strike a second time they use too much dynamite on the safe and thus lose quite a lot of money. In addition the owner of the pacific flyer E.H Herriman sends in another train with a group of lawmen including an expert Indian Tracker Lord Baltimore and a tough lawmen Joe LeFors to track them down and kill them. When the heat gets too much in their home town of Wyoming, the 2 men decide to flee to Bolivia with Sundance's girlfriend Etta Place (Katherine Ross) and decide to switch from robbing trains to robbing banks.
For me, this film was excellent when Butch & Sundance were robbing trains in Wyoming and I also thought it was excellent when they got to Bolivia. It was the middle third for me where the film lagged slightly (not very much happened), but thankfully the great chemistry and humour between Redford and Newman still made the middle section watchable. I was also a little bit disappointed that we didn't get to see any of the lawmen (the 2 most prolific lawmen were only mentioned in 'name only' - we never got to see things from their perspective, we didn't get to see how they tracked them etc). Whilst, Butch & Sundance were great and Redford and Newman's performances were great and they were both endlessly entertaining I still would have liked to have seen more of the lawmen. I was also a little disappointed with Katharine Ross performance as Sundance's girlfriend, she was a little bit flat in my opinion which was a shame particularly as Redford & Newman were so good in their respective roles.
Despite these minor issues, this is still an excellent western which is largely carried by Redford & Newman. The minor problems with the film are more than outweighed by the captivating story and the humour and chemistry between Redford and Newman. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.