AFI 100 Review: #50 Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid

My original intent was to approach this list counting down from 100. That was back when I still got discs from Netflix. But now it's a little harder to catch these movies in the order that they were ranked, and I don't want to go broke buying them to watch them.

This week I actually had the opportunity to see Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid in the theatre as part of the TCM year long film festival. Last summer we saw Jaws in the theatre, and I have to admit it was a different experience seeing it on the big screen. Louder. Bigger. And this one was similar. As many times as I've seen it, it was different seeing it in the theatre.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid

1969

Directed By: George Roy Hill

Written By: William Goldman

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, and Strother Martin

The Acting: I've always thought the ultimate compliment you can give any actor would be to question whether they were actually acting or not. Everyone here seems effortless. Newman, of course, is spectacular. This is a part made for him. He's got the swagger, the charm, and a hefty amount of the great lines in the movie. There's absolutely nothing for me to complain about him here.

Redford is just as suited for this role. He's great here, and it really pains me to say that. You see, I'm not a Robert Redford fan. That's an opinion of mine earned by Mr. Redford over the years and years after this movie where he has refused to come to terms with the fact that he is getting older. Like Butch tells Sundance in the film, "Every day you get older. Now that's just a law!"

Redford built a career on this role, and has spent the rest of his days stuck in it. Even at 70 years old, he still sees himself as a romantic leading man whereas Newman embraced the autumn of his years. Newman grew older and played older characters. Imagine Redford in Road To Perdition instead of Newman. It makes me shudder to think about it. Actually, if Redford had been in Road To Perdition, he would have insisted on playing the Tom Hanks part. Anyway, as much as I don't care for Redford, he's really, really good here. This is literally him at the top of his game.

A  lot of the strength of this film comes from the fact that the smaller parts are played just as well. Katharine Ross is breathtakingly beautiful and somewhat heartbreaking as Sundance's girlfriend. As she says, "I'm 26, and I'm single, and a school teacher, and that's pretty much the bottom of the pit." She knows none of this will end well, but is along for the ride. Her strength in this role comes from the fact that she plays it as though she is in love with both Sundance and Butch. The character alludes to it at one point, but she brings it to life in every scene she's in. And really, the audience is pretty much in love with them too.

Strother Martin turns a bit part, as miner Percy Garris, into another memorable character ("What we have here is...failure to communicate.") He really has very limited screen time, but makes the most of it. Like his character says, he's "colorful." A friend of mine at work loves this movie as much as I do, and we often end up using Percy Garris quotes while at work. "Don't you wanna know why?" and "Morons, I've got morons on my team" are favorites. He's a very likable character thanks to Mr. Martin, and his death marks the first real regret that Butch and Sundance feel about the path they've chosen. Bingo.

The death of Percy Garris and the subsequent deaths of the men who killed him at the hands of Butch and Sundance, actually leads to my favorite moment in the film. As the men lay dead, the dust slowly blowing over their bodies, Butch and Sundance remain motionless, surveying the scene. This is the result of their trying to get real jobs and stop their lives of being outlaws. Butch moments before had never shot a man, and these are the first men that are harmed by either Butch or Sundance's guns in the entire film. The dead men are definitely bad guys, but it's the moment in the film when our main characters, as well as the audience, realize they're on their way down a path which can only end one way. Redford quietly delivers what is one of my favorite lines: "Well, we've tried going straight. Now what?"

Interesting: What's interesting to me about this movie is the use of montages and the soundtrack accompanying them. Twice during the film we go to a very sepia toned series of still pictures depicting a passage of time. They are set to music that's almost comical. It's like the music that parodies would play set to "old timey" pictures. Maybe music from a nickelodeon. Here it kind of works for me, but there's no denying that it really brings you out of the film. You are almost purposefully reminded that you are watching a movie. I don't know that it's a good thing, but I accept it as part of this movie's charm.

There's also another sequence that is set to "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head." In it, Paul Newman performs tricks on a bicycle. The scene is kind of legend due to the story that a stuntman was given days and days to develop tricks to perform on the bicycle, but showed up to set with nothing. Paul Newman on the spot made up and performed all of the tricks (except riding backwards which was performed by the cinematographer). The whole thing is kind of fun, but I don't really care for the song. I think you could take that scene out of the movie, and you wouldn't lose anything. I don't mind that it's in there, but if it wasn't I wouldn't miss it.

Another interesting piece of trivia, and one that I just learned, is the fact that Sam Elliott is one of the card players at the table in the beginning of the movie. You can't really see him, but the internet says it's him.

Cultural Impact: When we saw the film this week at the theatre, there was an introduction by TCM's Ben Mankiewicz where he talked about the fact that this film, released in 1969, really spoke to the counterculture. He said it was a film about two men bucking society and convention, and going about life in their own way. I hadn't ever heard that before, and I'm not sure I see it.

Director John Boorman was apparently very critical of this film and labeled it the death of the western film genre. The funny thing is that I don't really consider it a western. Sure there are horses, six shooters, and cowboy hats, but the movie itself kind of makes the point that the "west" is dying out. The bicycle salesman actually tells his listeners they won't need horses anymore. The movie is more of a comedy to me (because I laugh through the whole thing,) and it's unconventional soundtrack keeps me from thinking "western." This movie is more about the relationship between the two main characters.

I consider Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to be one of the best buddy movies ever made. Every guy wants to be one of them, and every woman wants to be with one of them (or maybe both.) These two were just very, very likable in these roles. It was kind of the perfect storm of ingredients coming together and making a movie.

Does This Film Belong On My List: Yes. I think this movie does belong on the list. It's number 50 on the original list, and while I haven't ever really made my own list, it feels like this film would be somewhere in the middle of my top 100.