A Perfect World
A Perfect World
PG-13 | 24 November 1993 (USA)
A Perfect World Trailers

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.

Reviews
Protraph

Lack of good storyline.

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Spoonixel

Amateur movie with Big budget

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Plustown

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

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Lidia Draper

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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woodcoinmagazine

Escaped convicts kidnap the young son of a Jehovah's witness and teach him common life lessons while on the run from authorities. Stellar acting and a compelling script keep up the pace until the tragic ending. Minor transgressions include unnecessary homicide by the hero (he could simply have left his partner behind) including a weird shift where he nearly murders a family of helpers. A desire to see the criminal win out against the system may also be viewed as unfit. The ghost of a chance.

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Eric Dec

I've watched this movie for the first time in 2017. Maybe the movie was great to watch in the 90s but nowadays it really doesn't make any sense. The relationship between Cosner and the kid just doesn't make any sense at all. There are also some scenes completely wrong like the mobile home driving alone for way too long or the kid braking the car just before hitting Cosner. Some scenes are unexplained like were 5 men and one women slept since there is not enough space to spend the night in the mobile home. I love Eastwood but this movie is a pure waste of time. And by the way, you can guess how it ends after 10 minutes so there's no point in watching it.

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steve_jm_kidd

Nigh on a perfect film. In fact it is perfect and as an exercise in movie making, taking account of all aspects other than personal enjoyment quotient it ticks every box, unreservedly, and it was only a personal thing which lead me to initially give it a 9.3. But whatever, let's not get too precious about it. 10. Up there in the stellar regions of my ten films we can get really incremental, but I cannot think of a single factor, including personal enjoyment where it doesn't get top marks, as the more I have pondered it the more I realise the beauty of it all. It's a buddy movie twice, Clint Eastwood and Laura Dearn carrying the support act to Costner and T.J. Lowther's focal piece, there is a pleasant dressing of comedy, and in Costner's Butch a character of wide yet visible complexity who encapsulates the dilemma faced by social scientists across time and space since the get go, never mind a person's own demons. It's kind of better in that it is not a widely acclaimed film, it makes it more personal, and a film that grows with investment; for me it got better as it wore on, I really don't think there is anything not to love about it. If I were dishing the gongs out I wouldn't have given 1993's to Tom Hanks. And I truly dig Tom Hanks.

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slightlymad22

Continuing my plan to watch every Kevin Costner movie in order, I come to 1993's A Perfect World. Plot In A Paragraph: Butch Haynes (KC) escapes from prison and kidnaps a young boy (T.J. Lowther) In hot pursuit is a Texas Ranger, Red Garrett (Clint Eastwood)A Perfect World is not a great movie, it's an underrated masterpiece that has somehow slipped through the cracks, despite great reviews (I remember one saying "You'll be Unforgiven For Missing A Perfect World) it was overlooked on its initial release, and has been largely forgotten since. On paper, the film should have produced an instant box office hit. KC was Hollywoods golden boy, producing hit after hit (Dances With Wolves, Prince Of Thieves, JFK and The Bodyguard) whilst Eastwood had just won a pair of Oscars for Unforgiven, and had a hit with In The Line Of Fire, yet for some reason audiences stayed away. The trailers didn't really help, as they were uninspiring to say the least, and didn't convey the tone of the movie at all.I urge everybody to revisit it. Not only because A Perfect World features the best performance of KC's career, it may also the best movie Clint Eastwood has directed, yes I am including my own personal favourite, The Outlaw Josie Wales and Oscar winning Unforgiven in that statement. The movie has a prison break, a kidnapping and murders but it's not really about any of their things, it's so much deeper than that. The heart of the movie is the relationship between Butch and Phillip. Butch isn't a nice guy, we see plenty of examples of this, but he is kind to the boy, and Phillip isn't a cute movie kid, and with his natural performance and expressive face, he does not come off as a child actor either (which is the highest compliment I can give) This isn't just KC's best performance, it's probably my personal favourite KC performance too. It's amazing and combines everything that he is so good at. Butch is charming and sincere but also short tempered, (especially if he sees children being mistreated) unpredictable and very dangerous. Most of KC's scenes are with Lowther and the two have such great chemistry together that you really do feel the bond developing between them.Clint takes an unexpected back seat in this one, and that's fine. Also fine is Laura Dern (who I've always being strangely attracted to) playing a criminologist who isn't just along for the ride.While the movie could have easily been a bog standard chase movie, but it's patient pacing and its themes (father and son bonds) elevate it to greatness. Much like Unforgiven the movie is a warning about violence. Especially violence towards children. As a crime drama, it is effective and tense, but as a story of fathers and sons, it becomes something more poignant. It's a a deeply satisfying slow-burner that only improves with age. Worthy of note is the score by Lennie Niehaus (who Eastwood used often) and a track called Big Frans Baby, the location work and Eastwood's use of colours. Criminally over looked at the time of its release. A Perfect World ended the year 54th highest grossing movie of 1993, with a domestic gross of $31 million, to put that into context, Cop And A Half grossed more!! America should hang it's head in shame. Everyone who has seen it, should revisit this gem. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend you do so. 10/10 for this reviewer.

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