It’s not a movie-night special for the toddler set, or even the kindergarteners. (They don’t give medals for explaining even the tamest brothel scenes to preschoolers.)
So save “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” for your older children, sit down with a big bowl of popcorn, and treat yourself to a Western full of action and charm.
Believe it or not, this 1969 classic is rated only PG, for some profanity, the brothel scene that is little more than a chaste conversation, and some old-fashioned shooting violence.
Director George Roy Hill accomplished his entertainment by casting and dry wit, leavened by some well-placed slapstick routines. No need for gore or sex when you’ve got the chemistry of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and the pitch-perfect script of William Goldman.
Butch and Sundance blow up trains, high-tail it on horseback, quell rebellions in their own gang, and make nice with the pretty schoolteacher Katharine Ross. As another critic noted, a bonus is the bicycle-lesson scene to “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” which plays like a music video plunked down in the middle of a different movie.
My favorite scene has Sundance grinning at Butch after an explosion, paper money swirling around their heads: “Do ya think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?” Line deliveries like that, through an incandescent smile, turned Redford into a huge star.
Each Tuesday, Michael Booth uncovers a movie gem for families in search of rewarding entertainment. Reach him at mbooth@denverpost.com; find the “Screen Team” blog at denverpostbloghouse.com.
“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
Rated: PG for adult situations, profanity and violence
Most appealing: Children 10 or older
