“If a guy wants to call his cock Macho, that’s fine by me!’. It may not replace ‘Go on, punk, make my day in the big book of Clint Eastwood quotes, but then again, his latest film as director, producer and star is very much part of a gentle recanting of Eastwood’s own image from the 70’s and 80’s. Few stars have ever boasted the sheer machismo of Eastwood, who pretty much single-handedly dragged the Western, and cinema as a whole, into raw, modern territory with his spaghetti Westerns, before cementing his reputation as violent San Francisco cop Dirty Harry. That’s just two of the key passages from arguably the most storied career of a living superstar to date, but his recent efforts as a leading man, Gran Torino and The Mule, have moved away from hard-man gunplay and into a more melancholy vibe.
Working with the writer of the two films mentioned, Nick Schenk, Eastwood fashions Cry Macho as something of a rebuke to some of his more excessive films; it’s essentially a two hander between rodeo-rider Mike Milo (Eastwood) and a young boy called Rafo, played by Eduardo Minett. Mike is hired by a work associate (Dwight Yoakam) to travel to Mexico and retrieve his son from his ex-wife; it slowly dawns on Milo that the reason for the trip is essentially kidnapping in order to gain purchase in a divorce settlement. Betrayed, Milo finds some solace in his relationship with Rafo, who has a thirst for alcohol and a penchant for cock-fighting. The two, and a large rooster along for the ride, kill a few days in a quiet Mexican village, knowing that time, the law, and the various unscrupulous parties are catching up with them…
A script which became a book, and mooted for a vehicle for everyone from Burt Lancaster to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cry Macho feels like a mid-70’s movie; it’s short, lacks contrivance, and focused on personal development rather than goals. As a star, Eastwood has had more curtain calls than Frank Sinatra, but this is arguably the best of the bunch, gliding gently to an understated halt. While the pace is deliberately slow and the dialogue sparse, it’s very much an Eastwood movie, with Eastwood the director giving Eastwood the star a custom–made vehicle that makes for an ideal swan-song.
Of course, that could be said for almost any Eastwood movie since 1990’s The Rookie; in an age of anonymous directors and films written by committee, Cry Macho is an unmistakably personal film, and you can take it or leave it depending on your interest in Eastwood. But by shunning gunplay, and the blood-thirsty morality with which his name was often associated, Eastwood has mellowed into a gentle soul, and Cry Macho is worth savouring because this particular kind of careful, thoughtful film-making is very much against the grain in 2021.
Thanks to Warner Brothers UK for access to this film, which is out tomorrow Nov 12 2021.
Had been hoping to catch this on the big screen but it’s already lost its slot after just one week. look forward to it on DVD (old-school!) or wherever.
Maybe more in keeping with the old school ethos to rent it on VHS or watch it on Sunday afternoon STV…
DVD will soon go the way of VHS…
So have the powers that be given any indication of what the issue with the comments is?
They have sent me a link to footer with, but I haven’t yet figured out what the correct settings are…I’ll devite some time to this on Friday. Thank you for your patience.
Oh, so they’re making you deal with it? Man, now that is service :-/ There’s never enough time for everything.
As for this movie. Why is it always Mexican kids? Why don’t they show Canadian kids in trouble, wading through snow drifts 10ft high or some such?
Makes me wonder if mexicans are offended at all the national sterotyping going on in movies like these.
My guess is that several of these movies were put into production when it was assumed that building the wall would be the big issue of the Trump presidency. You may well fell that liberal Hollywood got it wrong…
Never try to predict the immediate future is my mantra!
(Except when I do, and am right 😉 )
Someone told me that you might feel that way…do you know who that was?
Dead Grampa?
Cousin Ernesto?
Uncle Alfredo?
I give up. Who?
HRH Queen Victoria.
No way!
I always knew she was cool cat.
She is obsessed with your ability to see into the near future. How do you do it?
By eating kosher.
Except for when I order a pepperoni pizza. But that can be between you and me. Ol’ Queenie doesn’t need to know
Haggis is the natural pizza topping. You have not lived until you have got that down your gullet. Washed down with Irn Bru, the Scottish National drink.
Sorry. I value my short term psychic powers too much….
That’s what Psychic Grandma said you’d say!
And not even the Notorious PsG eats haggis pizza!
FaCT!
She doesn’t eat it, she drinks it in liquified form…faCt!
Well, I just gagged myself to death thinking about that.
No wonder Psychic Grandma is so macho.
Too bad you and I aren’t mexican kids or they could have made a movie about her rescuing us while we snuck into Canada….
I met AOC at COP 26, and she pitched that idea to me as a movie; she’ll play the lead if you and I will play the kids. Liam Neeson to play the rooster. What do you say?
I LIKE IT!
I’ve always thought I had a young at heart kind of face. Perfect for becoming an international star…
Great, The script pretty much writes itself, we’ll take Hollywood by storm!
Great. What restaurant do you want to own? I think we should take over a couple of blocks and make everything in them ours. Kind of like genteel gangsters or something.
Astroburger? In and Out burger? Spagos? Kate Mantolini’s? So many great things ones to choose from…
Well, as long as Queen Victoria comes to visit, I’ll be satisifed whatever we take over.
Can’t go wrong with Clint. If it streams I’ll do it. Yep indeedy!
Wow, that plot does sound more than a bit like The Marksman with the grizzled old man and the Mexican kid. Which I also thought had similarities to Those Who Wish Me Dead. What’s with all these movies where the stars become surrogate parents? But more importantly, how well does the rooster measure up to Clyde the orangutan as a co-star in Every Which Way But Loose.
That Is the big question. It’s a very big red rooster, and I’d imagine it was hard to control on set. But it has to be there to make a third act twist happen, so I guess it’s the third corner on this particular macho triangle. Obviously not quite as seminal a film as this one…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP2PgaLG7dA
Just how big a rooster are we talking? This size?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfHQ8PpIWFM
The rooster featured in this film is a little smaller, but I’ll leave it for professional cock fanciers to judge. We had one on the farm called Harry, and he was quite unpredicatable; you really need to know how to handle them. Do you have much experience?
Only cattle, dairy and beef. No time for other farm animals at all. Chickens are nasty.
Some of my best friends are chickens. What are you basing that on?
How do your chickens feel about you? How do they show their affection? They’re just lizards with feathers.
It’s a sore point, because we currently have zero chickens; mauled by a fox that got into the henhouse. But Sadie and Bella were two champion chickens, full of fun, very friendly and happy to be picked up. And we had seven chickens as our peak, plus Harry the rooster. You should get some, maybe it would mellow you like Clint…
Dogs help keep away foxes.
You have a dog?
I always had a dog when I lived on a farm.
I don’t anymore.
But then, I don’t have any chickens either . . .
What DO you have?
Box sets of Charlie Chan movies.
Is that all you got?
Wait what??! Professional cock fanciers is a métier?? No-one told me that at school!
I am stumped for the correct response to this.
Not to worry, there probably isn’t one. §
Well, firstly, it’s not something that any school should be teaching. Secondly, cock-fighting is illegal, so dodn’t get involved. Obviously, I had a quite magnificent rooster, and I guess that’s what Alex has heard about and is keen to find out more about. But I take his point that getting a dog might keep foxes away, although the culprit may have been a stoat; they’re nasty little creatures and no mistake. You do get today’s star prize for getting the acute into métier…Alex WILL be pleased.
It was cock fancying not cock fighting, two entirely different métiers I should think.
Hoe would one assess the quality of a bird that one enters for a cockfight? Wouldn’t that be cock fancying? ‘I fancy big Harry to win this one? ‘
I was thinking more along the lines of ‘I fancy big Harry to defend and service my lady hens and babysit the chicks when the arrive’.
I bow to your superior knowledge of the subject…
Well you would have more than I having employed Sadie & Bella et al. Didn’t your Harry do all that?
Hé did, but the life of a bird is hard. There’s a public route where dog walkers are notoriously lax about keeping their dogs under control. If they get loose, they rip them to shreds. We have a new, improved run and will bring in news and exciting generations of steller rescue chickens, hopefully before Christmas. it’s what Harry would have wanted; a legacy for a mighty cockerel.
I’d love to have chickens and a rooster, but our garden is too small. Glad to hear you are restocking. I should think a picture or 2 would be nice when you do.
Your wish is my command. Get ready for Friday photos!
Cool! Looking forward to seeing them!