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.

Clint Eastwood stars and directs A Perfect World where he plays a Texas Ranger. But he yields top actor billing to Kevin Costner playing a fugitive who takes 8 year old T.J. Lowther as a hostage. This was as it should have been because Costner has way more screen time than Eastwood.

Costner and Keith Szarabajka escape from maximum security and kill a prison official and steal his car, the first of many stolen vehicles Costner will take. His second car exchange comes with young T.J. Lowther as well when Costner and Szarabajka stop at his mother's place.

Young Lowther is being raised by a Jehovah Witness mom who forbids him a lot of what kids consider normal. After a bit he starts to bond with Costner who had a similar deprived childhood under vastly different circumstances. For a while Costner and Lowther view this escape as quite an adventure. But of course stern reality takes over.

Although Eastwood is good his part is fairly one dimensional. A lot of it has to do with integrating newly assigned criminologist Laura Dern into his manhunt team, accent on man. Eastwood's an old school law enforcement guy, but some around him are of an even older school.

The scenes with Costner and Lowther are the highlight of the film. The two really get a special chemistry going courtesy of director Eastwood.

For those who like actor Eastwood they will be shortchanged. But director Eastwood is right on the job here.

It's 1963 Halloween night, Texas right before JFK's arrival. Robert 'Butch' Haynes (Kevin Costner) and Jerry Pugh escape from prison in Huntsville. Pugh breaks into a family home and they escape by taking the boy Phillip Perry hostage. Phillip's mother is a Jehovah's Witness and she forbids her children to participate in Halloween. Phillip doesn't know his father and soon Butch becomes a male role model for the boy. Texas Rangers Red Garnett (Clint Eastwood) and Tom Adler are on the chase. The Governor sends over an airstream trailer and criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern) to help. FBI agent Bobby Lee tags along in the manhunt.

Kevin Costner delivers the perfect combination of menace and caring. The boy is a great foil to him. Eastwood, Dern, and the others give the light comic relief. Costner and boy could have been in their own indie. Their relationship is touching with great moments of underlying tension. The Eastwood side of the movie is a little more lighter. The overt comedic scenes take some of the tension away. It's probably the lesser side but it's still plenty good.