Day Two-Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Tonight, I watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, number 73 on the list. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford and was made in 1979. It lost the Best Picture nomination to Midnight Cowboy, number 43 on the list.

Although I thought (and still think, for the most part) that Bonnie and Clyde, and Butch Cassidy are very similar movies, my father convinced me that Butch Cassidy was absolutely fantastic and that if I watched it, he would watch it with me. Now, my opinion that they are similar movies has not really changed, but I do agree with my dad that it really is a fantastic movie. I would say I enjoyed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid more than Bonnie Clyde, for a few major reasons.

Firstly, I thought the protagonists in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were extremely likable, much more so than Bonnie and Clyde. I really cared about what happened to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and was really rooting for them the whole time. I thought this movie did a better job of portraying the anti-heroes as heroic and charming characters. I also thought Robert Redford and Paul Newman had incredible chemistry and were truly believable as best friends, and as archetypical western heroes. Also, I thought the script in Butch Cassidy was one of the best I've ever seen. Despite the fact that there was not a lot of dialogue, since it was a traditional western and there were many action sequences, each scene of dialogue was memorable. I cannot count the time that I heard a line in this movie and immediately thought that if I was a douchebag who puts quotes on my Facebook profile, I would put that line on my profile. Even though the action scenes in Bonnie and Clyde were also well-shot, I thought the cinematography in this movie was outstanding. During all the action scenes, I had my eyes glued to the screen and was not convinced I was watching a movie from 1969.

I also realized that the reason this movie, and Bonnie and Clyde, do not feel dated to me is because they are period films, and at the time in which they were made, they were depicting an earlier era. Therefore, any "dated" features of the film can be attributed to the fact that it takes place in the mid 19th Century, not that it was made in 1969.

Without comparing this movie to Bonnie and Clyde, and looking at it as its own entity, it was just a highly enjoyable movie. Though there wasn't a thick plot, I realized that many crime films, especially ones made earlier on in movie history, aren't very plot heavy. I think that plot heavy movies have become popularized recently, and I enjoyed the fact that this movie explored the relationship between Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, had some great shoot-outs, had some great dialogues and didn't need to focus on a specific plot in order to wholly keep my attention.

I really loved this movie, and definitely think that it deserves to be on the Top 100 list.