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A Perfect World [1993]
from Warner Home Video
starring Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, T.J. Lowther, Keith Szarabajka
directed by Clint Eastwood

Features:

• PAL
• Subtitled

Editorial Review:

This curiously overlooked drama from Clint Eastwood, released just after his Oscar triumph with Unforgiven, concerns a prisoner (Kevin Costner) on the run with a kidnapped young boy as protection and the Texas Ranger (Eastwood) and federal agent (Laura Dern) on his tail. Eastwood manages a number of nice touches--the boy's innocence is nicely contrasted with Costner's soft-spoken desperado by the Casper Halloween costume he wears and the law-enforcement officials look vaguely foolish, travelling around the countryside with a high-tech camper in tow. Eastwood gives a grizzled performance that, despite its seen-it-all surface, still feels fresh after all these years, and he coaxes surprisingly sensitive work out of Costner. But it's the sheer, modest scale of this piece that makes it so disarming--no planet lies in jeopardy, there are no cosmic make-or-break consequences here, just committed people doing their job and a well-meaning bad guy hoping things don't get too out of hand while he prevents them from doing so. --David Kronke

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Classic film, classic acting, classic director.
  
  Clint Eastwood stars in and directs this story of an escaped convict, who whilst trying to flee the police takes a boy hostage. Pursued by the law, the convict (Kevin Costner) starts to bond with the boy and realises that the boys father isn't around, so the boy starts to look up to him too. It's a warming story of how in the most dire circumstances a warmth can come out of it. With the police on their tail and obstacles in their way, Costner must decide wether to give up the boy or to give himself... more info

• Not perfect, but rather good
  At 130 minutes, A Perfect World is certainly overlong - Kevin Costner takes even longer to die than Marlon Brando did in Mutiny on the Bounty - but compared to most films that attempt to pair box-office giants and simply ending up alienating both star's followings, it's actually rather good. Clint Eastwood the director fares better than Eastwood the actor, who could quite easily be cut out of the film, having little to do and doing it with minimum interest. Ditto Laura Dern's psychologist, who seems to be... more info

• beautiful
  It's on watching movies like this that I feel sorry for Kevin Costner. He deserves so much more credit than he gets. In 'A perfect world' he plays the role of 'Butch', an escaped convict who takes a young boy hostage. Phil is a 7yr old without a father and a mother with strict rules due to their religion. Soon he and Butch begin to forge a strong bond which is simply born of Butch treating Phil with the love he wishes his father showed. It's a very touching relationship to watch grow.
  However it... more info

• Costner rediscovers his touch after 'Dances with Wolves'
  There is something uncommon about this movie. It is hard to put my finger on. Parts of it are very touching. Parts of it are sad. I agree with the previous reviewer that Kevin Costner gives one of the best performances of his career in this movie. You find yourself thinking that even though his character Butch does bad things, he is not really a bad person, but you can't really be sure, because he is pretty complex. I think the little boy saves him from being a bad person, or at least shows that he is... more info

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