![]() A criminal since boyhood, Haynes grew up in a whorehouse under the intermittent supervision of a brutal, alcoholic father. The more time Haynes spends with Phillip, the more he sees himself in the young boy's eyes. The scenes between Haynes and his new pal are the film's best in fact, they may be the best scenes Eastwood has ever put on film. For example, at one stop Phillip finds a Halloween costume - it's a Casper the Friendly Ghost suit - and while Haynes is being chased by the cops outside, he's inside the store slipping the costume under his shirt. ![]() And why not? Like a father who's only around on weekends, Haynes lets the kid do all the things his mother usually won't allow. And Haynes is clever enough to turn their exploits together into a game of cops and robbers, with fake names and all.Īs Haynes and his new partner poke around committing petty crimes and trying to avoid police roadblocks, they become fast friends. Raised a Jehovah's Witness, Phillip has been denied many of the common pleasures of being a child - like being able to dress up for Halloween. For the boy, who is too young to know what's really going on, the kidnapping quickly becomes the adventure of a lifetime. Most of the film is spent in the car with the convict and his hostage, Phillip (played with remarkable restraint by T.J. I have no idea how audiences will react to this intimate, unassuming, gently funny character study. This isn't the first time that Eastwood has turned the tables on our expectations, but he's never been this bold in the past, or this sure of himself. Directed by Eastwood from a script by John Lee Hancock, "A Perfect World" is one of the Academy Award-winning actor-director's most unexpected, most satisfying films. The answer is "Not here, so get used to it." And strangely enough, we do. In other words, where is the Clint Eastwood we know? Watching it, you think, where's the action, the crashing cars, the gunplay and the glib one-liners? For a movie about a cop chasing an escaped prisoner, it seems curiously languid, almost meditative. Standing tall and lean in his ranger's uniform and white cowboy hat, he looks capable but sleepy, as if he plans to hop right on the case just as soon as he wakes up from his nap.Īctually, not much happens after Red begins his search either, and for a while the unhurried, devil-may-care pace that Eastwood has given to his material is disorienting. The year is 1963, and when Red hears that a career criminal named Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner) has busted out of prison and taken a small boy hostage, he acts like he's been told that a kitty is stuck in a tree. In "A Perfect World," Clint Eastwood plays a legendary Texas Ranger named Red Garnett, but it's hard to tell just how the character came by that legendary status. Children under 13 should be accompanied by a parent
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