Un monde parfait

There are numerous directions Clint Eastwood and screenwriter John Lee Hancock could've taken in his film, A Perfect World, and the one he sucks up and follows is a brave, endearing roller-coaster of emotion, sentiment, and commentary all providing slick and clean moments robbed of mawkish sequences. This is the seventeenth directing effort by Eastwood himself, cementing the fact that the question of whether or not he is a better actor or director can never be answered. There are far too many examples to back up both.

A Perfect World begins by showing us a deeply depraved, saddening family of devout Jehovah's Witnesses. Phillip Perry (T.J. Lowther) is a young boy, victim to not having birthdays, holidays, or events that pack in true joy for a child because of his mother's preposterous rules. His two sisters are too the victims. When a robbery is committed in the house, Kevin Costner's "Butch" Haynes takes the kid as a hostage, and Butch's loudmouth partner just waves a gun around and causes mayhem.

When he is finally abandoned long after the robbery, Butch and Phillip discover they have a lot more in common with each other than they could've imagined. Butch's dad was never around, and his mother was a prostitute, accompanied by men they couldn't care less about him. Phillip's dad is a simple deadbeat, never there and never going to be. The film shows how destructive and possibly dehumanizing it can be without a prominent male influence in your life. I'm blessed to have two caring parents and that has helped me in more ways than I can imagine.

It's big shame that many grow up today fatherless. An argument could be made about what is tougher; growing up with no mother, or no father. Without a father, you don't get the "time to be a man" talk, you never feel you can ask personal body questions to anyone, and this leads to the lack of parental supervision, causing kids to perhaps meander the streets aimlessly. Without a mother, you've lost the softness every person must occupy. You lack the necessity of, maybe, truly being safe and cared for. Sure a man could do so, but answer me this; when children cry, do they want mommy or daddy? I've trailed off course. A subplot of A Perfect World involves Eastwood's Texas Ranger Red Garnett and his crew on hot pursuit, destined to find Butch and Phillip. The subplot sounded so obligatory on paper, but writer Hancock is intelligent about keeping it a minimal occurrence. Not to mention, it isn't as intrusive or as dopey as it seems. It's actually taken with a lot of seriousness and heart.

Performance-wise, the film is around the clock superb. Much acclaim is due to Costner's character, who is serenely nuanced enough to make a true, memorable character. He has an outer-layer of cruelty but an inner layer of gooey anti-cynicism which comes forth very quickly. T.J. Lowther is spunky and charismatic as little Phillip, and Eastwood, do I even need to say it? Is incredible.

A Perfect World may extend a bit over the recommended time limit, but few, few spots are dry, the script is always attentive, and the casting and directing style of Eastwood is fitting and balanced. This is probably Costner's most dedicated and engaging performances, yet due to the moderate box office receipts and the minimal impact, it has likely made him reconsider serious roles. Same thing could possibly go for Robert De Niro. It's undoubtedly easier to immerse yourself into a character that is thin, vacuous, and dull than one that is developed, deep, and potential-ridden. Eastwood has made a sentimental gem of a picture, with topics that hit seemingly hit every note but.

Starring: Kevin Costner, T.J. Lowther, and Clint Eastwood. Directed by: Clint Eastwood.

Clint Eastwood is an outstanding Director. He directs A Perfect World masterly and we really feel en emotional involvement with the characters and the story.

T.J. Lowther is fantastic as the boy kidnapped by Butch (Kevin Costner), and it is great to see an unlikely friendship develop between the two despite their huge difference in background and age. Costner becomes almost like a father figure for Buzz, and the ending is slightly overdrawn and predictable, but is nonetheless deeply saddening.

Costner gives a great performance as the escaped convict, and despite his homicidal tendencies, we actually feel empathy towards him at some points of the film and feel that he is actually a casualty of bad circumstances rather than a blood thirsty killer.

Eastwood himself plays a reliable part as Chief Red Garnett, but he is very much in the background and he plays a bit-part character as he tries to track down Costner.

I am a big fan of Clint Eastwood both as a Director and actor. If you want to watch a film that really engages you in watching character development and does not focus on action, then this is a must-see.

Some aspects of this film work better than others, but overall A PERFECT WORLD is a highly watchable film. Kevin Costner delivers a fine performance as escaped convict Butch Haynes. The film primarily focuses on the relationship between Haynes and an innocent 8 year old boy named Phillip whom he kidnaps and befriends (well played by TJ Lowther). Haynes has killed two people thus far and gives the impression of a being a loose cannon, but Eastwood evokes sympathy for the character as the audience learns about Haynes troubled childhood (raised without a father by a prostitute mother - killed a man by the age of 8) and observe his genuine care and concern for the boy. Their relationship is reminiscent of Allan Ladd and the young boy in SHANE. As he slowly feeds us more information about Hayne's history, and lets the audience wrestle with its ambivalent feelings towards Costner's character, Eastwood keeps the film moving with lots of close brushes with the law, car chases and shoot'em ups.

Where the film doesn't work quite is when Eastwood himself is in front of the camera, playing a minor role - Chief Red Garnett - a Texas Ranger who's in charge of Haynes' capture. The primary function of his character, and Laura Dern's (who plays Sally Gerber - a criminologist the Governor forces upon the Chief) in the script is to supply further information about Haynes' past. Unfortunately, Eastwood tries to flesh out the relationship between these characters through antagonistic chauvinist attitudes towards Gerber and creating a power struggle between the two which (big surprise!) over the course of the film, gradually leads to a mutual respect between them! Granted Eastwood and Dern have marquee value - especially Eastwood, are fine in their roles, and, of course, chauvinism was alive and well in 1960's Texas, but I mostly found these minor subplots annoying and unnecessary. It's the scenes and issues focusing on Costner's character that are the life blood of this picture. This criticism aside, Eastwood does a solid job directing, weaving action, suspense and thought provoking human drama into a well knit weave and Costner delivers one of the best acting performances of his career.

7 1/2 out of 10

Being a sucker for any decent road movie, i was always predestined to enjoy this one. The surprising thing is that it's taken all of nineteen years to get round to it. I've always found Kevin Costner to be a likable screen presence and it's here, at the height of his stardom, with top billing that he's on great form. Costner plays Robert 'Butch' Haynes, an escaped convict who due to a botched robbery ends up kidnapping 'Buzz' , a young boy (T.J Lowther) with whom he forms an unlikely mutual bond. Although there's an inherent darkness to proceedings, there's also much sweetness. They form the kind of father and son friendship that as the film unfolds, we realise Haynes never had making it easier to feel sympathetic toward him amid the crime spree. Later in the film, that same sympathy is tested as it's revealed how emotionally damaged Haynes is. To the boy, the whole thing is an exciting adventure as it's highlighted early on that his religious background has kept him somewhat excluded. Haynes on the other hand seems to treat the escapade as therapy for the upbringing he never had. He constantly gives the boy choices and at no point does it feel like a dangerous hostage situation. As with all the better Clint Eastwood directed films, it's stylistically unfussy with emphasis on building a strong relationship between audience and character. Eastwood himself is a great presence in the film, playing a law man trying to keep a steady head, and shares some excellent screen time with Laura Dern. The screenplay also deserves a nod as it serves up some fun interplay dialogue and observations. Some very minor flaws push the limits of credibility, one in particular involving Buzz behind the wheel of a car and some expert last minute breaking, but they give way to what is a heartfelt and touching experience.

And certainly one of the most underrated pictures on IMDB. Why? Beats me, since this is one of the best performances from Costner & Eastwood. Not to mention the others.

Maybe it's the movie a little bit slow at start, but soon we get too see a strong character development, what leads us to the grand finale, where we cheer for the outlaw and his little "partner" (also very good performance by T.J. Lowther). The ending is undoubtedly one of the most touching in the history of cinema.

All in all, Costner did great both as director and actor and he had a winning hand picking up co-actors and screen & music writers. Plus, he made this movie in the nineties era, one of the best, if not the best for Hollywood movies.

That's for it's just pure classic. Just like the Texas landscape where it was taken.

9 out of 10.