A Perfect World (1993) - 9.5/10

This is one of Clint Eastwood's best films. I consider it to be better than some of the more celebrated of his movies, such as Million Dollar Baby or Mystic River. This is a movie whose premise looks simple: a jailbreak, a fugitive on the run, a hostage, and a manhunt; however the way these commonly-found-in-the-movies themes are handled make it go a lot deeper than the things on display.

The plot of A Perfect World revolves around Butch (Kevin Costner) who escapes from prison with the help of another convict. Soon after they take a little boy named Phillip hostage and are on the run. The manhunt to try and catch these men is being led Texas Ranger Chief Red Garret (Clint Eastwood), and in his team are two more interesting characters: a criminologist Sally (Laura Dern) and a sinister FBI man Bobby (Bradley Whitford). The opening scenes of the movie work in establishing each of these main characters, and giving us a few hints as to what each of these people is about and what their equations are with the people that they are working with: It is obvious that Butch doesn't like nor trust his partner-in-crime; good-looking Sally has a hard time getting settled into a man's World, while Red goes about showing who's boss; and the child gradually begins to trust the stranger Butch. The rest of the movie is about the chase and the relationship between the child and Butch.

As I said before Eastwood and writer John Lee Hancock are working in cliche-territory but avoid it with skill and take the story to whole new dimensions. In a way they have willfully set us up in the opening scenes so that we begin to expect a certain kind of film and then once we are in that mode of thinking they begin pushing boundaries and start challenging our pre-conceived notions and in that way succeed in finding moments of truth, of great meaning and social commentary while all the time continuing the basic plot.

A number of things are done to avoid falling into these cliche-traps. In the relationship that develops between Butch and the kid it is never very clear what the dynamics are, and although we are given some hints that the boy may eventually take-off with the convict (at one critical moment in the film he has a choice to stay behind but chooses to go with Butch) we quickly realize that this is a 7-8 year old boy who really misses his home (a reason why he chose to go with Butch at that critical point is revealed to us later, although that may not be the only thing playing on the kid's mind). It is clear that the kid begins to trust this man, partly because he has never had a father-figure before (his father left when the child was very young) and partly because it seems that Butch is much more understanding than the mother who the kid has to deal with most of the time (Butch lets him go trick-or-treating and other things like that); however, it is also clear that the kid has a strong sense of right and wrong and that leads him to constantly doubt Butch and even to an extent be afraid of him. It is certainly true that Phillip learns a lot from the older man which conventionally happens in such a movie, but then so does Butch learn a lot from the kid (and this may seem conventional also but the way that this happens is far from conventional). Moreover, the movie does not provide us with mandatory scenes of Butch's reformation, if someone is saved from being shot by him it is because of Phillip's ingenuity. On the other hand, there does seem to be redemption for Butch, this is a very subtle point and the way it is handled is one of the good things about the film-making here.

The title of the film comes to us in many ways, but at one point a character says that in a perfect world they could have nabbed the convict very quickly because there would be so many people in pursuit, roadblocks, etc that escape would not be possible. This is a critical point, because then Sally says that in a perfect world there would be no such situation. This then is the central idea of the film in that an imperfect world made Butch the way he is. This seems true because on the whole we find that Butch is not as bad a man as his partner-in-crime. However the question arises how good a person is he. We are told he is a fairly intelligent man, but wouldn't such a man be able to see through what he is doing? Or does he see what he is doing but is unable to stop? What happened in his past that made him this way? Some of these questions will be answered, others not so much. But the pace of the movie gives us ample opportunity to consider these at length and others. At two and one quarter hours the film is long but is never slow, boring or less than intriguing-to-watch. There is also ample humor throughout that keeps it consistently interesting and the way that it is done through dialogue and through visual moments, makes you not want to miss anything. The cinematography also keeps the film visually very interesting throughout and the closing shots are particularly impressive. The dialogue consistently rings true and there is great subtlety in the exchanges involving Butch / Phillip and Red / Sally in particular.

There are other things going on as well. We come to know that Red had a hand in sending Butch to a reform center (which in turn may have pushed him into the world of crime, although his upbringing before that has been far from perfect). Therefore, Red has invested more than just a man-hunt into this equation. Butch speaks of going to Alaska and reaching there in 3-4 days but doesn't really seem to be going anywhere. To me, it seemed that after-a-while he just wants to hang out with the kid going nowhere in particular: his curiosity, his need for companionship and his need for mentoring are all being served in this way, as is a need to command over someone (he certainly thinks he manages that with the kid, though he may not be entirely right). Towards the end of the movie all of these different things come together in a beautiful way and it generates an emotional reaction in unexpected ways (again the cliches are avoided skillfully). Nothing more really needs to be said except that in a perfect world, this movie would have been much more well-received.

I give it 9.5. The only flaw for me are the implications of what is done to the kid (and I mean the actor as well as the character). Now I leave that for all of you to ponder.

Thank God for the fact that the film gets a PG-13 rating because this is a film that both teenagers and adults can see and derive different meanings from. I first saw this movie more than 10 years ago, it was rated A (only for Adults) in India but I remember it had a profound effect on me.