Review of A Perfect World (1993) by James R — 29 Jun 2009

A moral escaped convict and an immoral escaped convict blunder their escape and end up kidnapping an 8 year old Jehova's Witness boy, in the 60s. Clint Eastwood directed it and co-starred as the head of the police investigation, however the writing was just a tad lackluster, with too many characters with too many relationships.

The feminist female character role was completely tacked on and never really went anywhere, (a common story with male dominated movies that require a female to appeal to PC audiences). Kevin Costner is pretty good, but he seems too clean cut for the role; one of the themes was the vile persona that was attached to him based on people's prejudices or ignorance, but I really couldn't believe him in one of the final scenes with the African-American family.

.. There are a lot of comical moments especially with police blunders which are emotionally distracting, (unlike the Dollars Trilogy which Eastwood starred in which had jokes that blended better.) I am not a proponent that thinks action or swearing is necessary for a film to be cool, but I think this movie could have used a little more 'grit' to make it really good since the whole movie it is eluding to a gritty reality, but which ends up a watered down, yet decent watching.

Oh, PS - common themes of Eastwood's movies: what makes a man, masculine morality, and struggling with past wrongs. PPS - giving water to a dying man seems to be a very common scene in Eastwood's films.