Ray McKinnon, T.J. Lowther, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Jennifer Griffin, Bradley Whitford, Leslie Flowers, John Lee Hancock, Jack N. Green, Belinda Flowers, Ron Spang, Leo Burmester, Keith Szarabajka, David Valdes, Laura Dern, Paul Hewitt, Mark Johnson, Joel CoxSee more
A multi-layered manhunt saga starring Kevin Costner.
Amazon.com
This curiously overlooked drama from Clint Eastwood, released just after his Oscar triumph with Unforgiven, concerns a prisoner (Kevin Costner) on the lam with a kidnapped young boy as protection and the Texas Ranger (Eastwood) and federal agent (Laura Dern) on his tail. Eastwood manages a number of nice touches--the boy's innocence is nicely contrasted with Costner's soft-spoken desperado by the Casper Halloween costume he wears, and the law-enforcement officials look vaguely foolish, tooling around the countryside with a high-tech camper in tow. Eastwood gives a grizzled performance that, despite its seen-it-all surface, still feels fresh after all these years, and he coaxes surprisingly sensitive work out of Costner. But it's the sheer, modest scale of this piece that makes it so disarming--no planet lies in jeopardy, there are no cosmic make-or-break consequences here, just committed people doing their job and a well-meaning bad guy hoping things don't get too out of hand while he prevents them from doing it. --David Kronke
Product details
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer
:
No
Package Dimensions
:
7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 ounces
Director
:
Clint Eastwood
Run time
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2 hours and 18 minutes
Release date
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February 14, 1995
Date First Available
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November 30, 2006
Actors
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Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, T.J. Lowther, Keith Szarabajka
Studio
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Warner Home Video
Producers
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Clint Eastwood, David Valdes, Mark Johnson
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To see the performance of the kid (T.J. Lowther) in this movie is worth the price of admission. Eastwood and Costner are terrific as the sheriff on the hunt for the criminal who has taken the youngster hostage as he tries to evade capture. And that's just the surface. Beneath the surface you have, well, you will just have to see it for yourselves.
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.
Continuing his exploration of what makes a man good, bad -- just plain human-- is what this film delves into, even more deeply than in the stunning "Unforgiven" (to his credit, Eastwood never pretends, as some male writers and directors do, that he understands women; instead, he admits that we are mysteries to him, and concentrates his energies on what he does understand: American men). Refusing to subscribe to typical American cinematic over-simplifications of "good vs. evil," Clint Eastwood delivers films that make you realize very quickly that there is no room for such absolutes when dealing with human truths. This thesis, which he has been pursuing for some time now, perhaps starting with "Tightrope" where the line between good and evil blurs to invisibility, he has, with "A Perfect World," given us a translation of John Lee Hancock's brilliant screenplay that is both beautiful and almost too painful to bear. Noted by critics at the time of its relase, but completley ignored by audiences who, it seems, found Kevin Costner as an escaped convict just too unpalatable, this film takes us on a complex journey deep into the souls of two tortured men, Costner's "Butch Haynes" and Eastwood's "Red," the Texas Ranger who is charged with running the escaped Haynes down. The past and its consequences are a continual theme in all of Eastwood's important works, and in this film, the ironies are neck-deep and take time and patience from the viewer to unravel. Even the decision by Red to commandeer the vehicle the Governer intends to ride in the next day when President Kennedy will be in Dallas (this is 1963) brings up the question: would the Governer have been shot had he been in this vehicle instead of in the President's car? This is one subtle example of how decision and consequence are continously explored in this most thought-provoking of films. Kevin Costner gave probably the best performance of his life, cast against type as a complex man who cannot be called either bad or good, merely profoundly human, whose life has followed a course laid by poverty, homelessness, a suicide mother and a felonious father, a bit of high spirits, and high intelligence with nowhere to go, but most importantly, the Texas penal system as it was managed in the 60's. Haynes' moral center, despite his acts, never wavers, and it is that moral center that propels events which finally spiral out of his control and into tragedy. But we see, clearly, that even a so-called "bad" man can be good enough to inspire genuine, deep love that, in the end, redeems both him and the person whose initial action started the long chain of events that ends with the 36 hours over which this film takes place (we discover who this is along the way, and I don't want to lessen the impact of any discoveries). Another reviewer here implied that it was Eastwood who is responsible for Costner's excellence in this film, but having seen so many interviews with his actors, it is generally understood that Eastwood casts his actors, then leaves them alone to find the character and reveal him without a great deal of interference, so it would seem that the credit is, indeed, Costner's. Sadly, he never again worked against type, perhaps because of this film's commercial failure, but this performance will always stand as testament to what he can do, and never is that performance better than in the house where Cajun music on the Victrola and senseless violence against a boy much of an age as Butch himself was when violence entered his life, combine to send him into a sort of fugue state of memory, pain, longing, rage, and ultimately, the loss of control that brings things to a terrible end. The boy, Philip, with whom he bonds (played beautifully by the transparent T.J. Lowther) also gives us his heart laid bare, and the rapport between the two of them is completely believable. We understand the child's repeated choices to stay with Butch, and the reasons go far beyond the superficial need for a father (his is gone), and into the realm of love. It is from Haynes that he learns the lesson that exacts the price of Haynes' escape, but then it is his love for Haynes that makes it bearable, and even right, for both of them, as in the end, he becomes the protector--the man--whose job it is to help a loved-one who can no longer help himself. When a film's characters are torn apart by the end of a film, its viewers should be, too, and we definitely are. It is a difficult, heart-breaking journey that Clint Eastwood insists we take with him, but taking it brings us to the point where we should start each day: from scratch. Red's last line is, "I don't know a da*n thing anymore," and that is exactly the point and the purpose of this story. We should never, ever think we have all the answers; to do so is fatal, as Red learns. Every day we should be willing to examine our beliefs and look back, with honesty, at what we've done, and look forward to what we're about to do with eyes wide open and with some sort of awareness of potential damage, and know, always, that there is no good "us," no bad "them," but that we're all only human beings, deeply flawed and yet filled with the capacity for love and connection, each of us doing the best we can.
Clint Eastwood erhielt 1992 für seinen Spätwestern zwei Oscars - als Produzent und Regisseur. 13 Jahre später wiederholte er diesen Zweifachsieg mit dem Boxerdrama "Million Dollar Baby". Am Anfang seiner Karriere standen "Für eine Handvoll Dollar", "Für ein paar Dollar mehr" und "Zwei glorreiche Halunken", die erfolgreichen Italo Western von Sergio Leone sowie die "Dirty Harry" Filme. Ab den 70er Jahren konnte er sich mit Filmen wie "Ein Fremder ohne Namen", "Der Texaner" oder "Der Mann, der niemals aufgibt" als Filmemacher etablierten. Viele seiner Filme wie "Mystic River", "Pale Rider" oder "Flags of our Fathers" sind inzwischen anerkannte Klassiker. Zu seinen besten Filmen gehört auch der 1993 entstandene Hybrid "Perfect World", der als Thriller, Roadmovie und auch als Drama funktioniert. In diesem Film, der von "Cahiers du Cinema" zum Film des Jahres 1993 gekürt wurde spielt Clint Eastwood einen Texas Ranger vom alten Schlag. Co-Star Kevin Costner konnte in der Rolle des Schwerverbrechers Robert "Butch" Haynes mit einer der besten Leistungen in seiner Karriere überzeugen. Natürlich trägt auch der Jungdarsteller T. J. Lowther für das Gelingen des eindringlichen Films bei.
Im Jahr 1963 brechen die Sträflinge Robert "Butch" Haynes (Kevin Costner) und Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabaika) aus dem Staatsgefängnis in Huntsville aus. Auf der Flucht stolpert Pugh in ein Haus, in dem der achtjährige Phillip Perry (T. J. Lowther) mit seiner frommen Mutter (Jennifer Griffith), die den Zeugen Jehovas angehört, und zwei Schwestern lebt. Butch folgt ihm und schlägt Pugh, damit dieser aufhört, die Mutter zu belästigen. Da sie eine Geisel für ihre Flucht brauchen, schnappt sich Butch den Jungen, der sie sanftmütig begleitet. Die Reise des Trios nimmt bald einen unerfreulichen Verlauf, als Butch Terry tötet, nachdem dieser versucht hat, dem Kind etwas anzutun. Nachdem sein Partner aus dem Weg geräumt ist, fliehen der Verurteilte und sein junges Opfer auf dem texanischen Highway vor der verfolgenden Polizei. Unterdessen nimmt Texas Ranger Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood) die Verfolgung auf. Mit der Kriminologin Sally Gerber (Laura Dern) und dem FBI-Scharfschützen Bobby Lee (Bradley Whitford) im Schlepptau ist Red entschlossen, den Verbrecher und die Geisel zu fassen, bevor sie die texanische Grenze überqueren. Außerdem offenbart Red Sally, dass er ein persönliches Interesse daran hat, Butch lebend zu fassen. Auch wenn Butch es nicht weiß, hat Red eine Vergangenheit mit ihm. Als Butch ein Teenager war, stahl er ein Auto, und Red war der festnehmende Beamte. Damals lebte Butch bei seinem misshandelnden Vater, der ebenfalls kriminell war. Aufgrund seines Alters und weil es sich um ein Erstvergehen handelte, sollte Butch eine mildere Strafe erhalten. Red war der Meinung, dass das Jugendgefängnis für Butch sicherer war als sein Zuhause, und er überlegte, dass einige der Kinder, die in Gatesville waren, sich gut entwickelt hatten und einer sogar Priester wurde. Wenn Butch zu Hause bei seinem Vater geblieben wäre, hätte er ein Vorstrafenregister "so lang wie mein Arm", meinte er. Red bat den Richter, Butch eine harte Strafe zu geben. Jahre später hat Red erkannt, dass die härtere Strafe genau die Kriminalität gefördert hat, die er befürchtet hatte. Jetzt hofft Red, dass er seinen Fehler aus der Vergangenheit wiedergutmachen kann, wenn er Butch lebendig ins Gefängnis bringt. Der kleine Phillip hat aufgrund seiner Religion nie an Halloween- oder Weihnachtsfeiern teilgenommen. Auf der Flucht mit Butch erlebt er jedoch eine Freiheit, die er als berauschend empfindet, denn Butch erlaubt ihm gerne die Art von Vergnügungen, die ihm verboten waren, einschließlich des Tragens eines gestohlenen Casper the Friendly Ghost-Kostüms. Allmählich nimmt Phillip seine Umgebung immer bewusster wahr, und mit ständiger Ermutigung durch Butch scheint er die Fähigkeit zu erlangen, eigenständig zu entscheiden, was falsch und richtig ist. Butch fühlt sich langsam dazu hingezogen, Phillip die Art von väterlicher Präsenz zu geben, die er selbst nie hatte. Butch und Phillip versuchen, nach New Mexico zu gelangen, müssen aber feststellen, dass der Highway, auf dem sie fahren, nicht fertiggestellt ist. Während sie in ihrem Auto in einem Maisfeld schlafen, treffen sie auf Mack (Wayne Dehart), einen Farmer, und seine Familie - Lottie (Mary Alice), seine Frau, und seinen Enkel Cleveland. Mack misshandelt Cleveland häufig, was auch die bösen Geister in Butch erweckt...
Der Film spielte 135 Millionen Dollar ein und beweist, dass Eastwood sensibel und melancholisch inszenieren kann. Dabei verschwimmt bei dem Gangster das Gut und Böse Schema. Er hat sowohl gute als auch sehr schlechte Züge. "Ich bin aber nicht unbedingt ein schlechter Mensch" wird er in einer Szene des Films sagen. Der kleine Knirps bedeutet ihm interessanterweise sofort etwas, weil er starke Ähnlichkeiten mit ihm selbst als Kind aufweisen kann. So wird der Kidnapper zum Beschützer und so etwas wie ein Vater-Ersatz.
![A Perfect World [VHS]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91JvCE0CrmL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
