Hey,

Recently, when I wrote about Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Cry, Macho, someone responded who wrote that Eastwood had made a similar road trip movie titled A Perfect World. In all honesty, I had never heard of the film.. Eastwood isn’t a go-to director for me, although I try to see all of his films.

In this version, an escaped convict – Robert Butch Hayes played by Kevin Costner – and a kidnapped 10-year-old – named Phillip Buzz Perry and played by TJ Lowther – are high-tailing from pursuing law enforcement in a series of now-classic cars. The police – Chief Red Garnett, played by Clint Eastwood – and profiler Sally Gerber played by Laura Dern – along with assorted deputies and FBI agents – are following in a command post stuck inside an Airstream mobile home.

The power of the film is the interactions between the convict and the kid. It’s not an upbeat movie although it travels along as if it were. A solid movie stifled by the baggage of its time.

Directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by John Lee Hancock. Cinematography by Jack N Green and music by Lennie Niehaus. Also starring Keith Szarabajka, Leo Burmester, and Bruce McGill, among others.