A Classic

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2014)

A classic of American cinema, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a surprisingly funny movie at times while being dead serious at others. It's the tale of two outlaws, the titular Butch and Sundance, who are on the run from an all-star posse intent on killing them for a wealthy client. Sundance brings his wife along as they trek to Bolivia, where they get back into their old ways after going straight for quite a bit. This leads to a climactic confrontation between the duo and the police.
Before I gripe, I do enjoy this film a lot and think that Paul Newman and Robert Redford have great on screen presence and chemistry. That said, I find that the film has bad balance. It can be a really funny movie but it also goes into serious life or death scenarios ten minutes later. The bicycle scene was cute and silly but then the two are running for their lives from the posse and I'm scratching my head.
Humanizing characters, especially anti-heroes, is a good thing but I feel the film took it much too lightly. I also found the ending lacking. I understand what happens but cutting off the film at such an emotional point seems kind of lame. This is the same year that The Wild Bunch was released and I was expecting the ending to be like that, with a massive, action-packed shootout. Instead we're left with a mildly amusing ending that doesn't do as much justice to these two legendary characters as I feel it should have.
I don't have too much to say as I really can't complain too much and I can't rave about this movie enough to do it justice. It's a fantastic western that any fan of the genre should see and any fan of film should take note of. I don't think it's the best western ever made, but it is a very memorable one that belongs in any hardcore film fans collection.