A brief comment
Added 11/14/2009
Please note that I saw this movie on HBO and so can't speak to the quality of the video transfer.
I saw this movie when it first came out and only just saw it again recently after many years. It held up the second time and it was certainly a pleasure getting to see Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and Laura Dern in the same film. Costner plays an escaped prison inmate, a man who is tortured by his past and his abusive upbringing but who also has no future, as the dragnet slowly tightens its noose. You get a sense from the very beginning that the movie will end tragically in his death, but for now he has a taste of freedom. Eastwood plays the cynical but sedulous Texas Ranger who is determined to bring Costner in, alive if possible. Dern plays the Fed psychologist and profiler who is always getting in Eastwood's face, and their strained relationship provides one of the main sources of tension in the movie. And the young boy, I don't know his name, is really superb as Costner's captive.
Costner, for all his flaws as an adult, understands kids, and the friendship that develops between the boy and Costner's character is the main psychological focus of the film. Despite being on the lam, Costner manages to show the kid at least something of a good time, and how that comes about is one of the charms of the movie, but I won't go into any details so as not to provide any spoilers. Although a commercial failure (perhaps because of Costner being cast against type as a bad guy), the move is certainly an artistic success since the entire cast is truly great in their roles. This might be the least well known of all of Eastwood's films but it's still well worth your time and money.
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TOP SHELF. EXCELLENT STORYTELLING. UNDERSTATED GREATNESS.
Added 8/9/2009
Every time I've seen this film I have been deeply moved. Perhaps the greatest screenplay Eastwood has ever directed. The plot is so understated and the work is deeply pregnant with metaphor. Extremly rich with life, self examination and Truth. This film grows deeper with each viewing. And the film crafting of Eastwood, the fine cast and production delivers the goods of the story very well.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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BUTCH AND PHILIP'S PERFECT WORLD
Added 6/22/2009
A Perfect World is the 1993 psychological crime drama starring Hollywood Heavyweights Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner. It is the saga of an escaped convict who takes an eight-year-old boy hostage, and ends up embarking on a road trip with the child while on the run from Texas Rangers, State Troopers and Federal Agents.
The film is set in the state of Texas during the fall of 1963, in the final days of the Kennedy Administration. Robert "Butch" Haynes (Costner)and Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka) are convicts who have recently escaped from Huntsville State Prison. In the midst of their flight from justice, the pair stumble into the home of the Perry Family, which consists of single mother Gladys, her two daughters, Ruth and Naomi, and her youngest and only son, Philip. Needing a hostage to aid their escape, Butch grabs the boy, who accompanies them without putting up a fight.
The trio's journey begins on an unpleasant and disturbing note as Butch is compelled to shoot his accomplice after Terry attempts to molest young Philip. A victim of childhood abuse himself, Butch Haynes does not tolerate the abuse of innocents, and so with his fellow inmate now deceased, Butch and Philip take to the Texas highways in a frantic bid to flee the encroaching law enforcement.
Meanwhile, veteran Texas Ranger Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood) is in hot pursuit of the duo accompanied by Sally Gerber(Laura Dern)a well- educated, attractive, young criminologist and profiler, trigger-happy FBI sharpshooter Bobby Lee (Bradley Whitford) and a host of Texas Lawmen and Federal Agents.
The plot alternates between the statewide manhunt unfolding on one level and on the other, the emergence of a loving father-son bond between the boyish, soft-spoken criminal and the kidnapped boy.
As the plot unfolds it is revealed that Philip comes from a family whose personal faith forbids him from indulging in any normal pursuits common to children of his peer group. This overly strict religious oppression is itself a form of abuse and has pretty much served as a prison for young Philip. However, by escaping with Butch, Philip is now free to experience many of the things that he was formerly denied, and because of Butch's encouragement, he acquires self-esteem and the ability to think and make choices for himself. He also begins to view Butch as a father figure. For his part, Butch sees glimpses of his former self in the boy's innocence and perhaps a bit of his own lost childhood, and gradually finds himself providing for Philip the kind of fatherly nurturing that he himself never had.
As the story progresses, it is further revealed that Chief Garnett has also played a role in the past of Butch Haynes, he had the youth sent to a reform school in order to spare the boy further abuse from his abusive alcoholic father, unwittingly setting into motion all of the events that has lead to their current situation. There is much to answer for, and Chief Garnett feels responsible for Butch. The tragic ending involves Garnett's posse taking up positions preparing to ambush the farm where Butch and Philip have taken refuge. Unwilling to leave the already wounded Butch, the boy runs back and hugs him, weeping bitterly, a gesture which convinces Garnett that he can recover the prisoner peacefully. Garnett's plans are thwarted when Bobby Lee mistakenly misjudges Butch's intentions regarding Philip and fires on him.
This is a fantastic, exceptional and heartbreaking film, and it is one of my personal favorites, I am a Kevin Costner fan as well as a fan of Legendary Actor Clint Eastwood.
I loved Kevin Costner's powerful, multilayered nuanced portrayal of the darkly intense, hunted and haunted, desperate and misunderstood outlaw. I was quite impressed and deeply moved by T.J. Lowther's equally dynamic portrayal of the youthful victim of circumstance.
As with all of Clint Eastwood's films, it is a well crafted, well acted, beautifully realized work of art.
There is a thread of profound melancholy that runs throughout this film and you can't help but feel sympathy for Butch and Philip.
Although Butch had done some very bad things, it was my hope that he and Philip would escape the clutches of Captain Garnett, the two of them would make it to Alaska, and make a new life for themselves as father and son, but dreams don't always come true, and Butch and Philip's "perfect world" set against the backdrop of the last days of President Kennedy's fabled "Camelot", ended pretty much in the same manner as that charmed administration...with a sniper's bullet.
Malpaso Productions and Warner Brothers Studios Presents:
"A PERFECT WORLD" (1993)
A CLINT EASTWOOD FILM
Starring: Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, Bradley Whitford, and Introducing T.J. Lowther as Philip Perry
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Produced by: Mark Johnson and David Valdes
Written by: John Lee Hancock
Music by: Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography by: Jack N. Green
Running Time: 138 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 Parents are strongly cautioned. Violence, Language, Adult Situations, child in jeopardy, and disturbing images.
Grade A+
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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A Perfect World
Added 5/4/2009
One of my all time favorite movies. I had it for years on videotape and just bought it on DVD. Love this Movie. Have watched it a number of times. Stockholm syndrome at it's most poignant.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Perfect Movie!
Added 5/3/2009
In the movie "A Perfect World", Kevin Costner plays an escaped convict on the run from the cops. When he and his partner just escaped the prison,they decide to take a little boy hostage. His name is Phillip. On their journey Phillip seems to see in Costner what a perfect dad would be. They become best of friends. It is a great movie with Clint Eastwood in it also. It is also wonderfully directed by Eastwood. I give this movie an A+. It is a great movie that any family will enjoy.(WARNING!Movie Rated PG13 for violence,sexual content and language.) Again a wonderful movie! If any disagreements please comment.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A brief comment
Added 11/14/2009
Please note that I saw this movie on HBO and so can't speak to the quality of the video transfer.
I saw this movie when it first came out and only just saw it again recently after many years. It held up the second time and it was certainly a pleasure getting to see Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and Laura Dern in the same film. Costner plays an escaped prison inmate, a man who is tortured by his past and his abusive upbringing but who also has no future, as the dragnet slowly tightens its noose. You get a sense from the very beginning that the movie will end tragically in his death, but for now he has a taste of freedom. Eastwood plays the cynical but sedulous Texas Ranger who is determined to bring Costner in, alive if possible. Dern plays the Fed psychologist and profiler who is always getting in Eastwood's face, and their strained relationship provides one of the main sources of tension in the movie. And the young boy, I don't know his name, is really superb as Costner's captive.
Costner, for all his flaws as an adult, understands kids, and the friendship that develops between the boy and Costner's character is the main psychological focus of the film. Despite being on the lam, Costner manages to show the kid at least something of a good time, and how that comes about is one of the charms of the movie, but I won't go into any details so as not to provide any spoilers. Although a commercial failure (perhaps because of Costner being cast against type as a bad guy), the move is certainly an artistic success since the entire cast is truly great in their roles. This might be the least well known of all of Eastwood's films but it's still well worth your time and money.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
TOP SHELF. EXCELLENT STORYTELLING. UNDERSTATED GREATNESS.
Added 8/9/2009
Every time I've seen this film I have been deeply moved. Perhaps the greatest screenplay Eastwood has ever directed. The plot is so understated and the work is deeply pregnant with metaphor. Extremly rich with life, self examination and Truth. This film grows deeper with each viewing. And the film crafting of Eastwood, the fine cast and production delivers the goods of the story very well.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
BUTCH AND PHILIP'S PERFECT WORLD
Added 6/22/2009
A Perfect World is the 1993 psychological crime drama starring Hollywood Heavyweights Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner. It is the saga of an escaped convict who takes an eight-year-old boy hostage, and ends up embarking on a road trip with the child while on the run from Texas Rangers, State Troopers and Federal Agents.
The film is set in the state of Texas during the fall of 1963, in the final days of the Kennedy Administration. Robert "Butch" Haynes (Costner)and Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka) are convicts who have recently escaped from Huntsville State Prison. In the midst of their flight from justice, the pair stumble into the home of the Perry Family, which consists of single mother Gladys, her two daughters, Ruth and Naomi, and her youngest and only son, Philip. Needing a hostage to aid their escape, Butch grabs the boy, who accompanies them without putting up a fight.
The trio's journey begins on an unpleasant and disturbing note as Butch is compelled to shoot his accomplice after Terry attempts to molest young Philip. A victim of childhood abuse himself, Butch Haynes does not tolerate the abuse of innocents, and so with his fellow inmate now deceased, Butch and Philip take to the Texas highways in a frantic bid to flee the encroaching law enforcement.
Meanwhile, veteran Texas Ranger Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood) is in hot pursuit of the duo accompanied by Sally Gerber(Laura Dern)a well- educated, attractive, young criminologist and profiler, trigger-happy FBI sharpshooter Bobby Lee (Bradley Whitford) and a host of Texas Lawmen and Federal Agents.
The plot alternates between the statewide manhunt unfolding on one level and on the other, the emergence of a loving father-son bond between the boyish, soft-spoken criminal and the kidnapped boy.
As the plot unfolds it is revealed that Philip comes from a family whose personal faith forbids him from indulging in any normal pursuits common to children of his peer group. This overly strict religious oppression is itself a form of abuse and has pretty much served as a prison for young Philip. However, by escaping with Butch, Philip is now free to experience many of the things that he was formerly denied, and because of Butch's encouragement, he acquires self-esteem and the ability to think and make choices for himself. He also begins to view Butch as a father figure. For his part, Butch sees glimpses of his former self in the boy's innocence and perhaps a bit of his own lost childhood, and gradually finds himself providing for Philip the kind of fatherly nurturing that he himself never had.
As the story progresses, it is further revealed that Chief Garnett has also played a role in the past of Butch Haynes, he had the youth sent to a reform school in order to spare the boy further abuse from his abusive alcoholic father, unwittingly setting into motion all of the events that has lead to their current situation. There is much to answer for, and Chief Garnett feels responsible for Butch. The tragic ending involves Garnett's posse taking up positions preparing to ambush the farm where Butch and Philip have taken refuge. Unwilling to leave the already wounded Butch, the boy runs back and hugs him, weeping bitterly, a gesture which convinces Garnett that he can recover the prisoner peacefully. Garnett's plans are thwarted when Bobby Lee mistakenly misjudges Butch's intentions regarding Philip and fires on him.
This is a fantastic, exceptional and heartbreaking film, and it is one of my personal favorites, I am a Kevin Costner fan as well as a fan of Legendary Actor Clint Eastwood.
I loved Kevin Costner's powerful, multilayered nuanced portrayal of the darkly intense, hunted and haunted, desperate and misunderstood outlaw. I was quite impressed and deeply moved by T.J. Lowther's equally dynamic portrayal of the youthful victim of circumstance.
As with all of Clint Eastwood's films, it is a well crafted, well acted, beautifully realized work of art.
There is a thread of profound melancholy that runs throughout this film and you can't help but feel sympathy for Butch and Philip.
Although Butch had done some very bad things, it was my hope that he and Philip would escape the clutches of Captain Garnett, the two of them would make it to Alaska, and make a new life for themselves as father and son, but dreams don't always come true, and Butch and Philip's "perfect world" set against the backdrop of the last days of President Kennedy's fabled "Camelot", ended pretty much in the same manner as that charmed administration...with a sniper's bullet.
Malpaso Productions and Warner Brothers Studios Presents:
"A PERFECT WORLD" (1993)
A CLINT EASTWOOD FILM
Starring: Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, Bradley Whitford, and Introducing T.J. Lowther as Philip Perry
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Produced by: Mark Johnson and David Valdes
Written by: John Lee Hancock
Music by: Lennie Niehaus
Cinematography by: Jack N. Green
Running Time: 138 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 Parents are strongly cautioned. Violence, Language, Adult Situations, child in jeopardy, and disturbing images.
Grade A+
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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