In late 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy is the affable, clever and talkative leader of the outlaw Hole in the Wall Gang. His closest companion is the laconic dead-shot 'Sundance Kid'. As the west rapidly becomes civilized, the law finally catches up to Butch, Sundance and their gang. Chased doggedly by a special posse, the two decide to make their way to South America in hopes of evading their pursuers once and for all.
Although Butch Cassidy wasn't the first movie to pair up a couple of wisecracking best friends in an action/adventure setting, this film became the model of how well that approach could work when done right.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
13 Feb 2001
fresh:
Very funny in a strictly contemporary way-the last exuberant word on movies about the men of the mythic American West who have outlived their day.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
William Goldman's script is constantly too cute and never gets up the nerve, by God, to admit it's a Western.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
23 Oct 2004
fresh:
The John Foreman production is episodic, but George Roy Hill's direction is so satisfying in catching the full value of the Goldman screenplay that a high degree of interest is sustained.
– Whitney Willaims,
Variety,
1 Oct 2008
rotten:
You have to admire the craft and assurance of the thing even as its artificiality hits you in the face.