In no other movie have I felt so sorry for a fugitive criminal. Of course, it is clear that in such films, prisoners are always presented to us from the best side, they are all so white and fluffy, and those who planted them here are criminals. This is true in almost all films on the subject. In the same movie, Shawshank Escape, of course, I empathized with Andy Dufresne, or in the same movie, Escape from Alcatraz, where Clint Eastwood starred. But there was something special about this movie. Moreover, the hero of Kevin Costner appears in the film not from the best side. Murder, robbery, hijacking. He's doing all this, but my God, you can't help empathizing with him anyway. These feelings are also conveyed by a boy who sees Butch as his mentor or something.
The main feature of this film is its ending. There is no American happy ending. There's a real crush tear. The last time I felt so pinched was when Belmondo was shot in The Professional. So here, too, is such a deep sense of injustice.
And there’s nothing special about the movie, but those last 30 minutes are turning the whole picture of it. If things had turned out differently, I would have called it the worst fugitive crime movie, and only for me it's one of the best.
Clint Eastwood is adept at pushing pity. I didn’t expect him to be so good at directing. Usually, his films are pragmatic, or not sorry for negative characters, as it was in his previous film Unforgiven. His talent opened up to me from a new angle. It seems that in the later film “Switching” he did everything to empathize with the heroine of Jolie, but there did not happen, but here is a completely different case. And even the last scenes of Robert and the boy, usually in other films on such scenes, I always have a feeling of disgust. This is not the case in this film. Probably the most harmonious episode of the film, when Philip leads Butch’s hand. Well, to God, she was crying.
The early and mid-nineties are the heyday years of Kevin Costner. There was his phenomenal film Dancing with Wolves, which made a huge impression on me. There was a good role in the movie Bodyguard, but in this film, perhaps, he played his best role. In his hero, two principles fight, good and bad. He is reasonable, consistent, calm, harsh, loves people and at the same time hates. Very revealing was the moment at the farmer's house, as revealing Butch Haynes' character. Eastwood showed it just fine. Costner was perfectly in this role. He made a perfect criminal. I didn’t really like Clint Eastwood in this film (although, to be honest, I watched the film only because he was a director there). Although his role was not too cumbersome, the focus was on Costner.
The movie turned out really well. Not a bad scenario, especially the end. Great work by Eastwood as a director. Good acting, which stands out only by Costner. Whenever I watch the ending, I remember Muslim Magomayev’s song “The Best City in the World.” I don't know why, probably because she's both sad and funny. These two combinations in the film blended perfectly. And fervor smoothly turns into sadness, but in life, in any case, there are always bright moments.
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