AFI Movies: #50 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Where I write way too much about Paul Newman and Robert Redford
If you missed my first post where I explain what this is and how I’m scoring things, here you go.
What is it about criminals that is so interesting to us? Over the last decade or so (at the moment I’m writing this) we have seen an explosion of content surrounding crime, murder, serial killers, and any other kind of despicable human being you can think of. The rise of podcasting and streaming services means that there is more content to consume than ever anyway, but it seems like the content surrounding crime and criminals is always a huge hit among audiences. So what is our fascination with them?
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid explores a type of criminal that has long been fantasized about for generations, the bank robbers of the old west. While this isn’t a documentary, it is based on real people and covers mostly real events, so the heart behind it feels the same as the true crime content we see today. I sat and watched these two men rob and kill multiple people, but still found myself cheering for them as the credits rolled and their fate seemed sealed, so there must be a reason for that. I’m not sure the lessons I can take from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are things I can apply to the popularity of all true crime, but I think there are some things to takeaway.
First of all, Butch Cassidy was played in the film by Paul Newman, and Sundance was played by Robert Redford. The fact that the two of them were just so handsome and charismatic definitely plays into how much I was rooting for them. Obviously, the real Butch Cassidy and the real Sundance Kid were nowhere near as handsome or charismatic, if only because it is nearly impossible for any two men to be as handsome and charismatic as 1969 Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Come to think of it, maybe a lot of our fascination with some of these criminals is that we are intrigued as to how or why these handsome and seemingly popular men could be driven to commit such terrible acts. Is there more to it than that? Absolutely. Did I spend all this time writing about this just to make my point about Paul Newman and Robert Redford being just insanely cool and charming and handsome? Of course I did.
Now we have a movie to discuss:
Entertainment Value- 2/2
This is a really, really good movie. If I were to rank all of the movies I’ve covered on the list so far, this would be near the top. I liked it that much.
The thing about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that I appreciated the most was how funny it was at times. For example, Butch convinces Sundance and Etta (Sundance’s girlfriend/Butch’s love interest, I don’t really know how to explain it) to move to Bolivia, sharing with Sundance that they could rob banks there since he knows Spanish. After arriving in Bolivia, Butch and Sundance go to hold up their first bank, but Butch doesn’t understand what any of the bankers are saying, so the two leave empty handed. What follows is a pretty funny sequence of Etta trying to teach the two men the phrases they will need to know in order to hold up a Bolivian bank, and Butch having to refer constantly to his notes on the various phrases. It’s great writing.
Correctness- 2/2
I was a little worried that a film from the 1960s where white people move to a Central American country might get insensitive, but it never did. Even though we are “rooting for” Butch and Sundance, we never forget that they are committing crimes and actually are the “bad guys” of the story.
Influence- 1/2
Unfortunately for the scoring here, this movie doesn’t have a huge cultural impact today. Even though I think it’s a really great film, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone talking about it or recommending it as a must watch. Is it fair to say this 55 years after the film was released? Probably not, but that’s kind of just where we are at with this scoring rubric that I’ve made up.
“Rewatchability”- 2/2
For reasons I don’t feel like discussing here, I watched this movie three times before I wrote this (ok fine, I was lazy, it happens, life goes on). Despite the fact that I had to sit through it three times in a relatively short amount of time, I enjoyed it every time. I definitely think it is one I will return to in the future, too. I liked it that much.
Technical Score- 2/2
So I did that really dumb thing a while back where I just started trusting the Academy Awards and handing out two points here whenever the Academy gave the movie an award, but I totally stand by it because this movie looks amazing and it won the award for best cinematography, so I must have some idea what I’m looking at watching movies now.
Did I mention this movie has Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and that they are handsome and charming?
Overall- 9/10
I really, really was thinking about making this my first 10/10, but I’m going to be really nitpicky about silly things until I feel comfortable giving one out1.
You can rent Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on the service of your choice.
Hasta luego,
Josh
Up Next: #49 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Let’s be real, probably all of these movies are a 10/10. Ok, not all, but most. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun to read/write these if I just gave everything a 10, though, so here we are.