Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Back in the good old days when Hollywood operated under the Production
Code, it was verboten for filmmakers to glorify evil. The bad guys
simply could not be favored over the good guys in a motion picture.
However, in 1965, the Motion Picture Association of America did away
with the Production Code and Hollywood was never the same. Within a few
years, movies in which the criminals were glorified and the law was
trashed were being made. One of the most significant of these flicks is
the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid tells part of the story of the
eponymous outlaw duo and their Hole in the Wall Gang. The movie starts
when the outlaws attempt to rob a bank and wind up getting ambushed by a group of law
enforcers hired by railroad magnate E.H. Harriman. The movie then chronicles the attempts
of the outlaws to shake off the pursuing lawmen. Finally, Butch & Sundance wind up
attempting to leave the outlaw life and migrate to Bolivia.

The basic problem with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is that
in real life, they were ruthless outlaws who scarcely hesitated to kill
anyone in cold blood. However in the movie, both Butch and Sundance are
portrayed as being kindhearted folks. Throughout the movie, they are
presented as being the good guys while the law enforcers are pictured
as being pretty bad company. The buddy-buddy chemistry aspect was
played up to the hilt, but the movie comes across as being
something akin to a live action cartoon and leaves a bad taste.

The characters of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are a bit on the
unbelievable side. The movie’s music is not very good and it does not
fit into the emotional content of the movie. This movie only briefly
sketched the story of Butch, Sundance and the Hole in the
Wall Gang. The Sundance Kid in real life did not have the super quick
draw that this movie attributes him having. Contrary to what is
portrayed in this movie, there is not a single known gunfight that
either Butch or Sundance ever engaged in real life. In the movie, Butch
and Sundance were a most affable pair, but in real life, they were
nothing but a couple of two bit cold blooded killer outlaws.

This flick does not feel like a conventional western, just like a couple
of guys joking their way through a bad western. Additionally, some of
director George Roy Hill’s artistic devices are annoying. This movie is
also a classic instance of how movie critics revise their assessments in light of a flick’s
reception by the public. Initially, the critics were rather cool towards this movie. However, once it
became clear that it was a hit with the moviegoing public, the critics began calling this movie a
classic and still do so to this very day.

In many ways, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is not a bad movie. It
boasts several standout performances particularly by both Newman and Redford and in terms of direction, music and technical aspects, it is a well made flick. However, the script is less than ideal in that it is a work
of revisionist history and the movie basically glorifies evil. It is cartoony and bears little relation to
reality. That being the case, it cannot be recommended here.