Image by DONT SELL MY ARTWORK AS IS from Pixabay With a film career spanning eight decades, acclaimed actor and director Clint Eastwood has been a part of several iconic films adored by many (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Million Dollar Baby, just to name a few). But with a tenure in movies as long as that, Eastwood has also made several underrated flicks that don’t get the appreciation they deserve today (Bronco Billy being one of them). Today, I want to shine a spotlight on another one of his directed features that, in my humble opinion, should be seen and talked about by more people: the 1993 crime drama A Perfect World, starring Kevin Costner.
Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “A Perfect World.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] A Perfect World, set in the early 1960s, tells the story of escaped convict Robert “Butch” Haynes (Kevin Costner) who’s on the run for the law after escaping the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. While on the run, Butch kidnaps eight-year-old boy Phillip Perry (T.J. Lowther) as a hostage to aid the escape of himself and his co-conspirator Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka). As they flee on the highway, Butch becomes increasingly protective of Phillip (especially against Terry’s aggressive behavior). Chasing Butch and Terry are Texas Ranger Red Garrett (Clint Eastwood), criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern), and FBI sniper Bobby Lee (Bradley Whitford), with the goal of capturing Butch and rescuing Phillip before they cross the Texas border. Unbeknownst to Butch, however, he shares a past with Red which is motivating Red to capture Butch alive. Meanwhile, Phillip experiences a previously unfamiliar sense of freedom on the road with Butch. Coming from a household of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the boy indulges in experiences with Butch that he never had at home (i.e. wearing a Halloween costume). As time passes on the road, Butch warms up to the idea of guiding Phillip through deciding what’s right and wrong in order to be a fatherly presence (something that, as a child, Butch lacked). But encounters with strangers and the law strain the blossoming father-son dynamic between Butch and Phillip. As Red’s team closes in on them both, Butch must reconcile between his inescapable criminal past and his desire to do what’s best for Phillip’s future. Why It’s Worth Watching In my humble opinion, A Perfect World is one of those films that may not have won any awards upon release but more than deserved some. Furthermore, it’s a movie that is well-made from start to finish but, for whatever reason, isn’t really talked about in the same way that Eastwood’s classics are. Without question, the best part of A Perfect World is Kevin Costner’s central performance. His turn as the charming fugitive “Butch” is one of his great performances that is, unfortunately, overshadowed by movies like Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves. From his interactions with young T.J. Lowther to the mostly understated tension between his and Eastwood’s character, Costner makes the movie worth watching simply for his performance. Luckily, there is even more that makes A Perfect World worth your time. As I hinted at before, I simply don’t understand why the movie is not put up there with Eastwood’s other great directed feature films despite deserving such praise. For one thing, Eastwood demonstrates a confidence behind the camera only evident in the best of his films. Which is particularly impressive considering this movie’s complex themes that require a delicate approach to pull off well. To elaborate, the emotional core of A Perfect World is its exploration of unlikely father-son relationships. The one that’s front-and-center—that between Costner and Lowther’s characters—could have easily felt contrived and disingenuous. But Eastwood’s way of telling their story, combined with both actors’ solid performances, avoids such trappings by striking the right tonal balance so as to earn the audience’s empathy for Butch and Phillip needing each other in different ways. But the subtler, and (in my humble opinion) more impressive, relationship that Eastwood dissects is the (mostly) off-screen dynamic between his own character and Costner’s. Despite rarely seeing the two actors interact, A Perfect World offers up a solid parallel to Butch and Phillip’s father-son dynamic by making Red Garrett into the father figure that Butch never had. Again, this should have so easily felt forced and clichéd but Eastwood never really lets that happen. If all of that hasn’t yet convinced you to check out this movie, I think that fans of gritty crime dramas set in specific historical periods (in this case, rural Texas in the 1960s) will enjoy the film in that respect. Why? Well, Jack N. Green’s cinematography excels at capturing a realistic portrayal of the backroads and fields of the Southwest in order to enhance the film’s themes and character dynamics. I don’t know what else to say but to watch A Perfect World. If you’re a fan of Eastwood, you’ll like it. If you’re a fan of Costner, you’ll like it. Or, if you just like great crime dramas, then you’ll really enjoy it. Have I convinced you to check out Clint Eastwood’s A Perfect World? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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