And the countdown continues in my quest to watch and find something inspiring in every single one of Yahoo’s 100 Movies to See Before You Die…
Butch Cassidy: Alright. I’ll jump first.
Sundance Kid: No.
Butch Cassidy: Then you jump first.
Sundance Kid: No, I said.
Butch Cassidy: What’s the matter with you?
Sundance Kid: I can’t swim.
Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.
I have this notion that every “western” movie is all sepia and dusty and crusty, so I stay away as much as possible lest I shrivel up and turn into beef jerky just by watching one. But aside from the periodic sepia sequence and one ridiculous bicycle-riding scene, this movie is pretty damn funny thanks to Robert Redford and Paul Newman. It’s inspiring to see lives — even ill-fated ones with loads of bad choices — lived with no regrets. The duo make the best out of every situation. The best scene by far is the first robbery in Bolivia, in which they need a cribsheet to speak Spanish. Bravo!
“But, Mrs. Mulwray, I goddamn near lost my nose. And I like it.
I like breathing through it. And I still think you’re hiding something.”
Jack Nicholson is large and in charge as a confident private dick who unravels a political scheme one stinky layer at a time. This is a far cry from his stint as district attorney in Chinatown, where he did “as little as possible.” He even gets the crap beaten out of him and a slice taken out of his nose for being “too nosy.” Do you think that stopped him? Of course not! Perseverance, how inspiring!
