Review of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) by Hoss R — 01 Dec 2011

Witty, fun, and tragic - a kind of strange and very specifically 1960's take on the western, Bonnie-and-Clyde style, with a couple of Graduate-esque musical interludes. It's the kind of movie that could only have been made at exactly the time it came about.

Paul Newman, one of the most likable people in cinema, plays another anti-hero two years after his career-defining turn in Cool Hand Luke. His casting along with Redford and the light tone of the film suggest very little in the way of moral ambiguity.

We are supposed to like and sympathize with these people - and like them we do, at least Butch. Sundance, the pessimist, is a harder case but is necessary to the pairing. The panoramic locations are great to look at even when the action slumps a bit in the middle.