This was a really exceptional story with wonderful acting. When I could tell that it was nearing some kind of ending, I was sorry. It was like a love story, in the long run. Costner played an especially damaged man who didn't want that to happen to another child. It wasn't always sad though. Like Phillip, I had plenty of fun too! Great directing by Eastwood.

The story begins with two men escaping from a Texas prison. Of the two, Butch Haynes (Costner) is a career criminal. The other is more of a psychopath and it's only a matter of moments before Terry murders someone without much reason. So, when the pair come upon a family in their home, Butch prevents Terry from committing various atrocities on the family but instead convinces him that they should just kidnap the young son, Buzz. Soon, Terry is about to hurt the boy...and Butch kills him.Despite being a killer and escaped con, he isn't all bad. Oddly, there is a real soft spot inside him for the boy. It seems that, in an odd way, Butch sees a bit of himself in the kid and he wants to make their escape fun, if it's possible, for the kid. After a while, the kid begins to bond with the man and the two set off on some crazy adventure. But remember...it's not all fun and games and Butch is a desperate criminal...so what's next?Even though Clint Eastwood and a group of criminologists and deputies are also in the film, they seemed almost irrelevant and the film could have preceded just as well without them. As for Costner, he was terrific and the film was strange but very watchable.

Under the penmanship of John Lee Hancock, may feel like the typical action-packed manhunt film with all the formulaic elements you find in this specific genre directed with a refreshing outlook by screen legend Clint Eastwood. And sure the repetitive malarkey psychological babble does come into effect about youths gone bad and the final sequences seems to take forever to end. Set in the year 1963, in the rural dwellings in Texas, one might be surprised that this crime-thriller isn't the typical run of the mill fast-paced, gun-slinging, car- chasing crime story, but more of a character- driven tale that tackles some very serious issues like parenting, uninspiring father-figures, and the rapidly changing ways the law enforcement handles their business. Long time Texas Ranger Sheriff Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood) is assigned by a governor to capture two convicted felons who escaped from a Huntsville prison where they kidnapped a fatherless young boy named Philip Perry (T.J. Lowther) who lives with his mother (Jennifer Griffin) who's very dedicated towards her faith as a Jehovah's Witness. Red hides out in a hi-tech Airglide trailer home as a follows the criminals down the highways and byways and send them back into the slammer. The two deviants are the psychologically unstable Terry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka) and career criminal Butch Gaynes (Kevin Costner). To supervise the pursuit, the governor assigns criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern) plus they also hire a sniper (Bradley Whitford), while Red's assistant Tom Adler (Leo Burmester) to take over radio controls as another deputy takes over the wheels. Butch terminates Terry in a cornfield after uttering threats towards Phillip. The resourceful boy can see that Butch is not a deranged lunatic like his partner Terry and Butch becomes an oddly developed father-figure with the boy. During breaks from their run from the fuzz, Butch takes Phillip to buy him some clothes from a redneck general store. The kid confiscates a Casper The Friendly Ghost costume and prefers the company of Butch rather than the stay in the store while the cops are after Butch.Before we ever met any of the characters, it seems that Red and Butch have met before. When Red was the sheriff if Amarillo, Red incarcerated Butch due to him stealing a car while going off on a carefree joyride. But Red as hard-lined as he is also has some compassion in Butch feeling that a four year jail sentence is tamer than having him return to his abusive felon father and his floozy, deadbeat mother. Butch has a pretty bad track record. When he was eight, he killed a man in his mother's defense, and literally got away with murder. Even though Butch has a liking for this kind kid, his dark side can never fully escape him and the bad decisions he makes still get the best of him. As the cops eventually catch onto him, Phillip thinks this manhunt was a learning experience to him and that this hard-luck convict could have been spared if state institutions knew how to fully operate the way it should. In the end, Red tells the legal system, figuratively to "stick it" and shows no empathy to hypocritical and those bastard cops who are just as corrupt as the criminals they arrest. Overall it's a very provocative film with a feeling of a western with the cinematography, only it's not in the same league as the typical shoot-em-up action crime film, but a human story with more advancements on character development.

A Perfect World is a fantastic movie with a very well developed storyline and an outstanding cast.I was really expecting this to be a very thrilling crime movie,but it was very much a drama that follows an escaped convict who kidnaps a child that soon makes him change his way.Kevin Costner does an outstanding job portraying this criminal,and the relationship between him and the young child is so sweet and sentimental that it is very hard to believe they are just acting,Clint Eastwood's directing in this is absolutely brilliant.The movie is still very much a thriller as well though,there are some very intense scenes and the characters dialogue is very dramatic and well delivered.Surprisingly sweet and a very easy story to get sucked in to,A Perfect World is a great movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good drama or crime film. An escaped prisoner becomes attached to the boy he kidnaps while on the run from Texas Rangers.Best Performance: Kevin Costner Worst Performance: Ray McKinnon