Eye Candy #363 - "A Perfect World"

A Perfect World:  Eastwood's directing follow-up to "Unforgiven" and just as strong, and his best directing effort until 2003's "Mystic River" (which I feel is inferior to this picture). The tale of Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner, in one of his strongest performances), a murderer who escapes from prison and goes on the lam with a little boy he kidnaps. The boy, from a repressive Jehovah's witness family, finds a father figure in Butch and Butch finds someone he can treat like a son/impart wisdom. They flee across Texas circa 1963, evading police chief Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood). Well acted and well directed, this is about a low-key a thriller as you can find, and accomplishes what it does through simplicity rather than artifice. Costner didn't have a part as good as Haynes for 10 years (until 2003's "Open Range"). Woodchuck sez, "Me likey."