Perfect World

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Movie
German title Perfect World
Original title A perfect world
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1993
length 138 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Clint Eastwood
script John Lee Hancock
production Clint Eastwood
Mark Johnson
David Valdes
music Lennie Niehaus
camera Jack N. Green
cut Joel Cox
Ron Spang
occupation

Perfect World is an American fictional film from 1993 . The mixture of drama , thriller and road movie staged by Clint Eastwood takes place in the 1960s and deals with the friendship between a kidnapper and his hostage, a little boy.

action

Two criminals, Butch Haynes and Terry Pugh, escape from prison in Huntsville . On their escape through Texas , they take eight-year-old Phillip hostage. It quickly turns out that Pugh is ruthless and vicious, while Butch, despite his criminal career, has honorable principles. The two very different crooks clash a few times, and when Pugh finally tries to physically attack Phillip on one occasion, Butch shoots him in disgust and continues his escape with Phillip alone.

The Texas Ranger Red Garnett takes up the chase in the governor's own Airstream Overlander and is accompanied against his will, but at the express request of the Governor, by FBI criminologist Sally Gerber and the self-confident sniper Bobby Lee.

Phillip soon has confidence in Butch, who - unlike Pugh - treats him well. Between Phillip, who grew up without a father, and Butch, who grew up without a father himself and always wanted a son, a surrogate father relationship quickly developed, especially since Butch allowed the boy to do some things that his strictly religious mother forbade him. So Phillip got a Halloween costume of the friendly ghost Casper, which he wore from then on. They talk about a lot, like Butch's dream of living in Alaska.

A turning point occurs in a black family where the two of them stay for one night. Butch loses control when he sees the family grandfather humiliate and beat his six-year-old grandson. He overpowers his grandfather and threatens to kill him. Phillip, disturbed by Butch's sudden change of heart, reaches for Butch's pistol, shoots Butch in the stomach, throws the gun away and runs away. Butch comes to his senses, leaves the family his knife and laboriously follows Phillip to the showdown on a large meadow.

Butch and Phillip are quickly surrounded by the police. Butch promises to release Phillip if his mother, who has meanwhile been flown in by helicopter, promises in return to give Phillip all the freedoms that other American children have, regardless of her own beliefs. In addition, Butch slips Phillip money and the two say goodbye. While Phillip runs towards the police and his mother, Butch tries to crawl away in the other direction. Halfway there, Phillip pauses and returns to Butch, whom he doesn't want to leave alone, especially since he has long since been sorry for the shot in the stomach. Since the press reports about the kidnapping always said that the boy was suffering terribly, Red Garnett cannot make sense of Phillip's behavior. To clarify the situation, he instructs Lee to first shoot on command, then approaches them unarmed and asks Butch to drop his weapon. Butch tells him that he is unarmed and agrees to give up, but first wants to give Phillip the postcard he received from his father in Alaska. When he reaches into his back pocket for this, the besiegers think he is drawing a gun - Lee pulls the trigger and hits Butch in the chest, who dies shortly afterwards. While Phillip mourns the death of his friend, Lee is knocked down by the returning Red Garnett and then also by Sally Gerber, who had long recognized Butch's good character and tried to keep Lee from shooting.

background

After Steven Spielberg had considered directing this film for a while, it was finally directed by Clint Eastwood. He actually only wanted to be behind the camera, but was then persuaded by Kevin Costner to act as an actor. Originally not Costner, but Denzel Washington was planned for the main role.

Reviews

“The convulsively motivated friendship between child and gangster does not find enough support either in the play of the actors or in the wooden direction. Even a long, melodramatic ending does not save the film from incredulity and boredom. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Under the direction of Eastwood himself, an elegiac drama about guilt, atonement and father-son conflict unfolds, which grows in tension with every shot and culminates in a melodramatic finale that should catapult the handkerchief industry into the black even in midsummer. Recommendations superfluous - here comes a number one. "

- Video Week

“A film that lives from its main actors, and there is hardly any doubt about their quality with the names Eastwood and Costner. Unlike some road movies, the focus is not on the landscape, but on the facial expressions of the main actors, which Eastwood emphasizes in many close-ups. A thoughtful film with a melancholy climax that cineastes shouldn't miss. "

- Frank Ehrlacher : moviemaster.de

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IMDb Trivia
  2. ↑ Perfect World. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 27, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ http://www.moviemaster.de/archiv/film/film_1702.htm