An Academy Runner-Up

In 1970 at the Academy Awards Midnight Cowboy took home the award for best picture. It has been a while since I've seen that film but my recollection of it makes me think the Academy did a fine job in their choice. I re-watched fellow nominee Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It is bizarre to watch a movie that was rewarded and loved and realize that it was almost universally panned by critics when it was released. It kind of makes you wonder about being a critic.

I'm not a historian of film. I can't tell you if this movie represented a milestone in film making. I'm not terribly attuned to style. I can't tell you if they way it was edited and shot was revolutionary. I'm just an idiot who likes to see movies good and bad. And I think this is one of the good ones. Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) leads the Hole in the Wall Gang. He robs banks and trains and is followed by his friend The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford). Times are getting tough. Butch is getting older, his gang isn't as obedient any more. Banks are getting harder to rob and he is bringing more attention to himself. Butch is thinking about getting out accompanied by his faithful friend.

When a super posse is hired to track Butch and Sundance down, the two decide wisely to get out of town and wind up in Bolivia. In Bolivia, the adage old habits die hard is proven when Butch and Sundance take up their old trade of bank robbing, now assisted by Sundance's girl Etta Place (Katharine Ross). The ending is pretty iconic and probably known to any reader but I still feel guilty about spoilers.

What to say about this film? There are some unusual choices in the film, such as a music montage of black and white pictures showing Butch, Sundance and Etta traveling to Bolivia. In fact music montages abound in this film. It grew on me by the end it felt like an homage to silent film. Of course the film is about Butch and Sundance. They are two friends we don't have much back story on. In fact both readily admit they don't know much about each other at all. Butch is shocked to learn Sundance is from New Jersey and an early scene in the movie shows that they didn't know each others' real names.

But you don't really need to know anything about their back story and they don't need to really know anything about their back stories. You see they are friends and you just inherently understand, you say "yeah that makes sense" even if you can't say why it makes sense. The chemistry between Newman and Redford just works. Katharine Ross as Etta stands as a bizarre third in the relationship, romantically involved with Sundance but connected to Butch as well. If you think its easy to balance a relationship in a movie between three people without a hint of jealousy on anyone's part, then go watch some hack film like Pearl Harbor and explain why it couldn't happen there?

Suffice to say that the duo of Newman and Redford occasionally joined by Ross is stellar. Hell, its worth the price of admission...or netflix queue or DVD purchase or illegal download or however you get to view the movies you watch. But in addition to that there is also a great chase. Early in the film the super posse pursues Butch and Sundance after a job. The chase lasts some twenty five minutes of screen time. And what's amazing about the whole thing is that the pursuers are never more than blurry indistinct riders on the horizon. Yet it creates an relentless urgency. And never once do these two anti heros say enough is enough. They never choose a place to stand. They keep running.

The scene climaxes in one of the most famous lines in movie history. As the two stand cornered at the edge of a canyon, Butch turns and says "Kid, the next time I say, 'let's go someplace like Bolivia,' let's go someplace like Bolivia." The duo eventually makes it to Bolivia and some humor is brought out of the language barrier. And these are the reasons this movie is so memorable. It has antiheros you like who are funny and serious. It has tender moments and tense ones and characters who aren't afraid to admit they are afraid.

I won't say its the greatest film ever made, I won't say its the best Newman or Redford performance. But I'm glad I own the DVD and I'm glad I re-watched it.