Continuing my plan to watch every Kevin Costner movie in order, I come to 1993's A Perfect World.
Plot In A Paragraph: Butch Haynes (KC) escapes from prison and kidnaps a young boy (T.J. Lowther) In hot pursuit is a Texas Ranger, Red Garrett (Clint Eastwood)
A Perfect World is not a great movie, it's an underrated masterpiece that has somehow slipped through the cracks, despite great reviews (I remember one saying "You'll be Unforgiven For Missing A Perfect World) it was overlooked on its initial release, and has been largely forgotten since.
On paper, the film should have produced an instant box office hit. KC was Hollywoods golden boy, producing hit after hit (Dances With Wolves, Prince Of Thieves, JFK and The Bodyguard) whilst Eastwood had just won a pair of Oscars for Unforgiven, and had a hit with In The Line Of Fire, yet for some reason audiences stayed away. The trailers didn't really help, as they were uninspiring to say the least, and didn't convey the tone of the movie at all.
I urge everybody to revisit it. Not only because A Perfect World features the best performance of KC's career, it may also the best movie Clint Eastwood has directed, yes I am including my own personal favourite, The Outlaw Josie Wales and Oscar winning Unforgiven in that statement.
The movie has a prison break, a kidnapping and murders but it's not really about any of their things, it's so much deeper than that. The heart of the movie is the relationship between Butch and Phillip. Butch isn't a nice guy, we see plenty of examples of this, but he is kind to the boy, and Phillip isn't a cute movie kid, and with his natural performance and expressive face, he does not come off as a child actor either (which is the highest compliment I can give)
This isn't just KC's best performance, it's probably my personal favourite KC performance too. It's amazing and combines everything that he is so good at. Butch is charming and sincere but also short tempered, (especially if he sees children being mistreated) unpredictable and very dangerous. Most of KC's scenes are with Lowther and the two have such great chemistry together that you really do feel the bond developing between them.
Clint takes an unexpected back seat in this one, and that's fine. Also fine is Laura Dern (who I've always being strangely attracted to) playing a criminologist who isn't just along for the ride.
While the movie could have easily been a bog standard chase movie, but it's patient pacing and its themes (father and son bonds) elevate it to greatness. Much like Unforgiven the movie is a warning about violence. Especially violence towards children. As a crime drama, it is effective and tense, but as a story of fathers and sons, it becomes something more poignant. It's a a deeply satisfying slow-burner that only improves with age.
Worthy of note is the score by Lennie Niehaus (who Eastwood used often) and a track called Big Frans Baby, the location work and Eastwood's use of colours.
Criminally over looked at the time of its release. A Perfect World ended the year 54th highest grossing movie of 1993, with a domestic gross of $31 million, to put that into context, Cop And A Half grossed more!! America should hang it's head in shame.
Everyone who has seen it, should revisit this gem. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend you do so. 10/10 for this reviewer.
Plot In A Paragraph: Butch Haynes (KC) escapes from prison and kidnaps a young boy (T.J. Lowther) In hot pursuit is a Texas Ranger, Red Garrett (Clint Eastwood)
A Perfect World is not a great movie, it's an underrated masterpiece that has somehow slipped through the cracks, despite great reviews (I remember one saying "You'll be Unforgiven For Missing A Perfect World) it was overlooked on its initial release, and has been largely forgotten since.
On paper, the film should have produced an instant box office hit. KC was Hollywoods golden boy, producing hit after hit (Dances With Wolves, Prince Of Thieves, JFK and The Bodyguard) whilst Eastwood had just won a pair of Oscars for Unforgiven, and had a hit with In The Line Of Fire, yet for some reason audiences stayed away. The trailers didn't really help, as they were uninspiring to say the least, and didn't convey the tone of the movie at all.
I urge everybody to revisit it. Not only because A Perfect World features the best performance of KC's career, it may also the best movie Clint Eastwood has directed, yes I am including my own personal favourite, The Outlaw Josie Wales and Oscar winning Unforgiven in that statement.
The movie has a prison break, a kidnapping and murders but it's not really about any of their things, it's so much deeper than that. The heart of the movie is the relationship between Butch and Phillip. Butch isn't a nice guy, we see plenty of examples of this, but he is kind to the boy, and Phillip isn't a cute movie kid, and with his natural performance and expressive face, he does not come off as a child actor either (which is the highest compliment I can give)
This isn't just KC's best performance, it's probably my personal favourite KC performance too. It's amazing and combines everything that he is so good at. Butch is charming and sincere but also short tempered, (especially if he sees children being mistreated) unpredictable and very dangerous. Most of KC's scenes are with Lowther and the two have such great chemistry together that you really do feel the bond developing between them.
Clint takes an unexpected back seat in this one, and that's fine. Also fine is Laura Dern (who I've always being strangely attracted to) playing a criminologist who isn't just along for the ride.
While the movie could have easily been a bog standard chase movie, but it's patient pacing and its themes (father and son bonds) elevate it to greatness. Much like Unforgiven the movie is a warning about violence. Especially violence towards children. As a crime drama, it is effective and tense, but as a story of fathers and sons, it becomes something more poignant. It's a a deeply satisfying slow-burner that only improves with age.
Worthy of note is the score by Lennie Niehaus (who Eastwood used often) and a track called Big Frans Baby, the location work and Eastwood's use of colours.
Criminally over looked at the time of its release. A Perfect World ended the year 54th highest grossing movie of 1993, with a domestic gross of $31 million, to put that into context, Cop And A Half grossed more!! America should hang it's head in shame.
Everyone who has seen it, should revisit this gem. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend you do so. 10/10 for this reviewer.