The film is set in Shandaken, a town of approximately 3,000 in Ulster County, New York. The time is the late 1960s. Frequent shots appear of the beautiful landscape around Wittenberg Mountain and Slide Mountain that are part of the Burroughs range in the Catskills. It is there that an escaped convict from Albany is on the run. It it up to two bumbling deputy police officers of Shandaken to save the day. The two nincompoops do their best to imitate Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and they eventually form a sympathetic bonding with their prisoner.
After Butch and Sundance locate prisoner 614, a nice guy named André, they learn that he was arrested in Albany in 1968 during a civil rights protest. When he fled, he was pursued by an obese police officer, who dropped dead from a heart attack, which was a matter of record. But André was nonetheless convicted of killing a cop. Now Butch and Sundance entertain the idea of setting the prisoner free. But first, they must deal with their authoritarian boss, the Sheriff of Shandaken, who has just fired them for incompetence.
Unfortunately, the film's clever idea materializes very, very slowly in a poorly paced film. As Butch and Sundance plod through the Catskills with their prisoner in tow, they speak lines like "Let's sit and think what to do." As they are sitting and thinking, the home video audience for whom the film was intended is thinking of hitting the "fast forward" button. And next: Butch and Sundance get lost in the Catskills! Throughout this ordeal, the time is spent by one and all (including the proprietress at the diner) in lighting up and smoking Lucky Strikes!
There is a payoff to this low-budget film, but it is as lukewarm as the coffee that is served at the Shandaken diner. While riding in handcuffs in the police vehicle driven by the sadistic sheriff, André is told by his captor that there is "irony" in his situation. The irony will become apparent when the sheriff pulls off the side of the road and escorts the fugitive into the woods.
The reckoning that occurs in the forest will offer a bit of redemption and humor for a mediocre film.
After Butch and Sundance locate prisoner 614, a nice guy named André, they learn that he was arrested in Albany in 1968 during a civil rights protest. When he fled, he was pursued by an obese police officer, who dropped dead from a heart attack, which was a matter of record. But André was nonetheless convicted of killing a cop. Now Butch and Sundance entertain the idea of setting the prisoner free. But first, they must deal with their authoritarian boss, the Sheriff of Shandaken, who has just fired them for incompetence.
Unfortunately, the film's clever idea materializes very, very slowly in a poorly paced film. As Butch and Sundance plod through the Catskills with their prisoner in tow, they speak lines like "Let's sit and think what to do." As they are sitting and thinking, the home video audience for whom the film was intended is thinking of hitting the "fast forward" button. And next: Butch and Sundance get lost in the Catskills! Throughout this ordeal, the time is spent by one and all (including the proprietress at the diner) in lighting up and smoking Lucky Strikes!
There is a payoff to this low-budget film, but it is as lukewarm as the coffee that is served at the Shandaken diner. While riding in handcuffs in the police vehicle driven by the sadistic sheriff, André is told by his captor that there is "irony" in his situation. The irony will become apparent when the sheriff pulls off the side of the road and escorts the fugitive into the woods.
The reckoning that occurs in the forest will offer a bit of redemption and humor for a mediocre film.