An extremely witty and relentlessly entertaining Western comedy-drama

Rating: Null/10 (30 April 2016)

Inspired by the illegal escapades of the two most famous members of the Wild Bunch, this is an extremely witty and relentlessly entertaining Western comedy-drama. The superb script by William Goldman is full of marvellous dialogue and deservedly won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. As strong as it is, however, I think that the first half is marginally better than the second. The director George Roy Hill handles the material with a huge amount of energy and flair and he made wonderful use of the locations offered by Utah, Mexico and New Mexico. It is a beautiful looking, stylish film with great cinematography by Conrad Hall. Although the film is based on fact to some degree, it is fictionalised in many places and I am sure that the real Butch and Sundance had quite a few more rough edges than their counterparts. However, any and all liberties that Goldman took with the facts worked in the context of the film. I loved the decision to begin the film with an imitation of silent Westerns while the sepia-tinged opening scene was another great tribute to the filmmaking techniques of days gone by. With the exception of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, there is comparatively little music in the film, which was an interesting choice but one that worked well.
The film stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford in a pair of wonderful and effortlessly charismatic performances as the titular outlaws. Their chemistry is electrifying and it is a terrible shame that they only made one more film together, namely the even better "The Sting" which was likewise directed by Hill, as I have seldom seen an on- screen duo who worked better together. I don't know how well they knew each other when they made this film but they click so perfectly that it would be difficult to imagine it working, at least to the same extent, if one or both of them had not been cast. They have a great deal of charm and, even if you're an actor, that is difficult to fake. Of the two, Newman is perhaps the stronger but that may be because he has a marginally more interesting role. Butch, whose real name was the less catchy Robert LeRoy Parker, is depicted as being a warm, affable, eternally optimistic and fiercely intelligent smooth operator with a tendency to plan at least two or three moves ahead. Conversely, Sundance - whose real name of Harry Longabaugh would later be used by Goldman as a pen name - is considerably more laconic, pessimistic and openly cynical than his partner in crime. They have a very interesting relationship as they often snipe at each other but their bickering has a solid foundation in friendship. Each will always have the other's back. In fact, each is probably the best friend that the other ever had. There are times when Sundance looks like he wants to shoot Butch but there is a real sense that he would follow him to Hell and back. Speaking of Sundance, Goldman was not the only one to use his name in later life as Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in 1978.
The scenes depicting Butch and Sundance's attempt to evade the six man posse are some of the very best in large part because the focus is squarely on the two male leads, giving them a great opportunity to exhibit their easy chemistry. In fact, if the writing had been of the same standard, I'd have been perfectly happy for the remaining hour of the film to consist entirely of nothing but Newman and Redford's banter, though immediately that would not have been very cinematic. The finale in which they are cornered by the Bolivian Army is another highlight. I particularly loved the moment when Butch tells Sundance that they should relocate to Australia in order to continue their criminal careers even though it is obvious that neither of them have much chance of making it nine feet, let alone 9,000 miles. As the exact circumstances of Butch and Sundance's deaths have never been definitively established, an urban legend has arisen that the two men survived and returned to the United States. In an episode of "In Search Of..." in 1978, the former's much younger sister Lula Parker Bettenson claimed that he came home to Utah and eventually died in 1937 but she refused to disclose where he had been buried. Nothing of this sort has come to light concerning Sundance's supposed later life but, in any event, the evidence of either man surviving that fateful day in Bolivia in 1908 is less than conclusive, to put it mildly.
The female lead Katherine Ross is rather boring as Sundance's long- time girlfriend Etta Place but that's okay since, in spite the fact that she is the third most important cast member, her role is not all that crucial to the film. One of Etta's most interesting moments is when she wonders in a wistful tone whether she would have gotten together with Butch if she had met him before Sundance. This suggests that she may have feelings for him but that she remains with Sundance either out of loyalty or because her feelings for him are simply stronger than her ones for Butch. Strother Martin has barely five minute screen time but he is probably the third most entertaining cast member as the self-described "colourful" mine boss Percy Garris, who gives Butch and Sundance a job when they try to go straight. The film also features nice appearances from Jeff Corey, George Furth, Cloris Leachman, Don Keefer, Kenneth Mars and Ted Cassidy in a rare role outside of the sci-fi, horror and fantasy genres.
Overall, this is a hugely entertaining, thrilling film which has given me the impetus to check out more Westerns, which is certainly the Hollywood genre with which I am least familiar.