Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid "Bonnie and Clyde. ..." we don't believe it, and we walk out of the theater wondering what happened to that great movie we were seeing until an hour ago." The Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay #11 on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written. Over time, major American movie reviewers have been widely favorable. Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator, gives 89% "Certified fresh" favorable score based on 46 reviews with an average score of 8.2/10, the site's critical consensus reads With its iconic pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, jaunty screenplay and Burt Bacharach score,
The Deal (2003 film) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Frears wryly likened Brown and Blair to Beavis and Butt-head. Producer Christine Langan alluded to both Shakespearean and Biblical themes, painting Brown and Blair as Cain and Abel. At the time of commissioning, Douglas Henshall and Daniel Craig were considered for the parts of Brown and Blair respectively, though David Morrissey and Michael Sheen were eventually announced as the leads in March 2003. Morrissey gained two stone for his role and had his hair permed and dyed. He researched Brown's background by travelling to Kirkcaldy—where Brown grew up—and reviewing numerous biographies and information about