A Perfect World (1993)

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

John Lee Hancock

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Costner	...	Robert 'Butch' Haynes
Clint Eastwood	...	Chief Red Garnett
Laura Dern	...	Sally Gerber
T.J. Lowther	...	Phillip 'Buzz' Perry
Keith Szarabajka	...	Terry Pugh
Leo Burmester	...	Tom Adler
Paul Hewitt	...	Dick Suttle
Bradley Whitford	...	Bobby Lee
Ray McKinnon	...	Bradley
Jennifer Griffin	...	Gladys Perry
Leslie Flowers	...	Naomi Perry
Belinda Flowers	...	Ruth Perry
Darryl Cox	...	Mr. Hughes
Jay Whiteaker	...	Billy Reeves
Taylor Suzanna McBride	...	Tinkerbell

Storyline

After escaping from a Huntsville prison, convict Butch Haynes and his partner Terry Pugh kidnap a young boy, Philip Perry, and flee across Texas. As they travel together, Butch and Philip discover common bonds and suffer the abuses of the outside "Perfect World." In pursuit is Texas Ranger "Red" Garnett and criminologist Sally Gerber.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | texas | escaped convict | criminologist | blood | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un mundo perfecto

Filming Locations:

Steiner Ranch - 896 Sayers Road, Bastrop, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£3,034,130 (UK) (14 January 1994)

Gross:

£4,092,432 (UK) (4 February 1994)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Malpaso Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min 125 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clint Eastwood was not originally going to act in the movie - Kevin Costner talked him into it.

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Goofs

Terry Pugh fires his revolver two times at the kidnap site, two times at the water tank and shoots two bullets through the car roof. So the revolver is empty when Phillip has to aim it at Pugh. When Pugh recovers the revolver he checks to see whether it is really empty. It is, but not only the bullets but also the empty shells are gone.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Sally Gerber: You know you did everything you could. Don't you?
Chief Red Garnett: I don't know nothin'.
[pause]
Chief Red Garnett: Not one damn thing.

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Connections

References Martin's Day (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Guess Things Happen That Way"
Written by Jack Clement
Performed by Johnny Cash
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Bonnie & Clyde (1967), Thelma & Louise (1991), and now Butch & Buzz (1993)

Costner and Eastwood confront each other in A Perfect World with a very ordinarily written cat and rat movie. We've seen the same plot many times before and after 1993. Eastwood plays the cat, and Costner does the rat. However, Eastwood directs it at a high emotional level; giving its viewers much inspiration of love and joy, offering a great deal of fun and humour, especially pointing the importance of family. To the effect that, the title should have been "A PERFECT FAMILY" or "A PERFECT FATHER". I'm sure though, Eastwood must have considered these options of titling the movie. If he chose to go with "A PERFECT WORLD"; for me, it means that even a shifty criminal man can raise a child better than a moralist bona fide housekeeper can, at some point.

The story takes place in 1960s' Texas. Butch(Costner) is an escaped convict out of a perforce criminal. After he and his partner escape from prison, they begin to outlaw the law. As a celebration of their freedom, they supersede their own law of crime. They first planned to escape to Mexico, but the plans changed when they kidnapped a 8 year old boy. Butch's partner doesn't like the boy as he likes. So they break with each other, and Butch stays with the boy. When the Texas police are alerted of the kidnapping, police chief Garnett(Eastwood) and his officers start to chase Butch to rescue the boy. Whereas, the boy finds Butch close to him both as a hero in his dreams and as a father in his heart. The time when Butch takes the boy to buy him new clothes, which he chose to wear Casper costume, Butch names the kid Buzz. Butch wants him to be happy for he has never had the chance to be before; and Buzz turns out to be cheery as he found a daemon turning his wishes into reality. Together they formed a legendary couple like Bonnie&Clyde, like Thelma&Louise and the same bottom line was awaiting for them as Bonnie&Clyde, as Thelma&Louise.

A Perfect World is truly an Eastwood classic. His style of script, his style of action, his style of simplicity and the love of the guns for sure loom large. Fundamentally like every Eastwood movie out of A Perfect World we obtain an opinion. So we never regret seeing A Perfect World for one time. This would be a good choice to watch with your whole family together.