A Wild West film that will make you cheer for the bad guys.

Rating: 9/10 (1 October 2012)

In the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid George Hill, the director, uses Bolivia to represent the dream place Butch and Sundance want to reach in order to get a fresh start. It was suppose to be an escape from the life they have been dealing with, as well as a chance to bring change for them. In the beginning of the movie they bring up Bolivia as the place to be, which leads to the conclusion that they will end up there at some point. When they finally reach their dream place it's not what they expected it to be, in reality the country is poor and run down. After all they been through Bolivia turns out to be another obstacle they must overcome. At first Bolivia acts as an escape for them and is a change. It's clear that Bolivia is an escape since it throws the posse, which is after them. The problem is that the change they get is that they are foreigners and stand out. All their plans they had are slowed down because they have to learn the native language, Spanish, in order to do business. Bolivia also brings change to Sundance's attitude once they get there. This is easy to see from the point they arrive in Bolivia till the end of the movie. He develops an on edge attitude, which he is easier to set off. Bolivia becomes the end of their dream since their adventures end here. An important item to take note of is the white straw hat that is always worn by Joe Lefors, the best lawman around. This hat represents the law which they are running from throughout the movie; they are never able to outrun the law. When in America the posse is after them then in Bolivia they are chased by officers there. Weather they are in American or Bolivia the hat is still present. This hat also brings fear to Butch and Sundance. An example of this is when they are in Bolivia they see the hat and are instantly scared and leave the restaurant they are at. There are two pivotal points in the movie. The first one is when Butch and Sundance go to Sheriff Bledsoe in order to join the war. Then the second is when Butch and Sundance get into a gunfight with the Mexican outlaws. Each of these scenes is similar in a number of ways. In both of these scenes Butch and Sundance use it as a way to go "straight", or become the good guys. The first scene they try to join the war because they feel it's a way to become the good guys. Then in the second scene they feel by carrying out their contract they are now the good guys and even say they have gone straight. Another way these scenes are similar is because they try to escape the posse after them. By joining the war they feel the posse won't come after them because they will be fighting for the country. Then when they kill the outlaws they feel the posse can no longer come after them since they have changed their ways. When Butch and Sundance decide to run to Bolivia they ask Etta if she wants to join. She accepted their offer on one condition which she said she was not going to stay around and watch them die. This becomes a notable part of the movie. Later on in Bolivia Etta, for no good reason, decides that she wants to head back to America. If you put these two elements together you can tell that trouble is going to happen. After she is gone Butch and Sundance end up in a shootout and are killed, which Etta predicted since she left them. This movie was all about teamwork and how far it could get you. Throughout the whole movie Butch and Sundance worked together in order to escape many dangerous situations and see things they never thought possible. Although in the end the numbers game worked against them but they went down as a team.
I learned that this movie was based on actual characters. The events that took place in the movie were loosely based on the real lives of Butch and Sundance. Some of the events that did happen in the movie actually took place but it may not have been as dramatic like the film. The ending scene was not historically correct because the bodies in that shootout were never identified. The name of their gang in the movie was not the name they went by in real life.
I feel Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who played Butch and Sundance, had a really good chemistry during this film. Their chemistry really made them a great pair for this film. These two were friends in real life which makes it understandable of why they were picked for these parts together. All throughout the movie the chemistry makes the movie flow and it can easily been seen that they truly carried this film. Without that great chemistry between these two then this film would probably not of been as good.