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I’ll just throw my prejudice down like a gauntlet in this first paragraph. I’m not a fan of John Travolta or Tom Cruise. And God Bless the late great Paul Newman, but I don’t care if Cruise got his blessing for a remake of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the idea of Cruise as Sundance and John Travolta as Butch Cassidy, makes me want to hurl. And I don’t usually use the word hurl so I have to be pretty worked up to add it to my vocabulary.

It’s not merely that the 1969 film was written by William Goldman, directed by George Roy Hill, showcased great performances and chemistry by Robert Redford and Paul Newman AND had a score by Burt Bacharach that somehow while ignoring everything about the Old West fit the film perfectly. It’s not merely that it’s a great movie.

There’s the fact that while Cruise might be able to summon up a Sundance kid at 46, Redford was 33 and just nailed the role completely. Travolta as Butch Cassidy? Don’t get me started. How wrong for a role can an actor be? Maybe he should put the awful “woman suit” back on from his role in Hairspray and play Etta Place.

I know, I know, I’m being harsh. The word is that making this remake is a “labor of love” for Tom Cruise. Well, Tom, if you love it that much then pay for a pristine print of the film to be released on DVD with a nice little commentary from you which says you love the film so much you decded not to make your own version. You and John Travolta can do a remake of Grumpy Old Men.

My question to all of you movie buffs out there is does this idea make you want to hurl?