The prolific film actor plays an ageing rodeo star sent on one last mission to rescue a friend’s son from Mexico and bring him home.
It is without question that Clint Eastwood is one of the finest gifts to the history of cinema, whether that being a superstar acting hardman, or a prolific and nuanced director as well, Eastwood’s films are some of the most memorable we have ever seen. However, is Cry Macho a step too far? Clint is cracking on now isn’t he, 91 years young and appearing to not slow down, but this ageing cowboy is an old man taking part in young man’s game, and his fearsome aura has most definitely been diminished it seems. Surely this will be his last film – at least as star and director – although we said that about The Mule so who even knows at this point.
Cry Macho is a film that was due to be made way back in the 1970s (it would have thrived in that era as well), but N. Richard Nash’s screenplay was rejected countless times before he eventually turned it into a novel. Nash again attempted to get the film made in the 80s and offered it to Clint, who opted to film The Dead Pool instead – the last of the Dirty Harry films. So, you could say this film has gone through some rigorous development hell over the years, there were even rumours of Arnold Schwarzenegger starring, before certain… questionable events derailed that.
If this is to be Eastwood’s swansong then he still manages to make himself irresistible to women (which is kind of creepy to be honest considering his age) as well as maintaining that macho man image he has built up over the years, something else that comes across as a bit odd – old men never look authentic when fighting in films. The whole thing just felt kind of silly, throughout the film they are trying to hide the fact he is old, but not doing a great job of it. This film belongs in the 70s and should have stayed there, especially if Clint wanted to star.
Eastwood plays Mike Milo, a onetime rodeo star and horse breeder in 1970s Texas, he takes a job from his ex-boss Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam) to go to Mexico and bring the man’s son home, away from his alcoholic mother. Mike ventures into Mexico and finds the boy, “Rafo” (Eduardo Minett), involved up to his knees in an illegal cockfighting ring (when did kids stop climbing trees?), Mike tells the boy that his father wants him back home, and without his mother’s permission, the two gather their things – mainly a feisty cockerel – and make their way to the border. The unlikeliest of friendships blossoms, as the pair face different challenges and issues of morality throughout their journey home, with Mike seeing redemption in the kid, as he teaches him about life and what it takes to be a good man.
You can see where the story is going from a mile away, as soon as Mike begins to break horses in a small town – predictability can really ruin a film. It is a very odd road movie of sorts, with the bond of man and boy taking centre stage, watching it evolve into an unexpected friendship, but like everything else in this film it was very expected. Cry Macho is a very simple story, which means it became very manageable for someone of Eastwood’s age, which I guess is a good thing for him at least. There were obvious themes about machismo and age being just a number; an old rodeo star still up to the task of rescue and deliver, is this Eastwood trying to tell us that he is still able to perform as a star actor and command the screen?
Cry Macho is not a memorable film, an ageing Clint can still pull together a handful of good scenes and establish a good rapport with the other characters, but it is kind of sad seeing him amble his way through a film he could have done with his eyes closed in his heyday. There is a lot of emotion behind the eyes of Mike, it is almost as if all of Eastwood’s past characters manifest into this old man – a withered old cowboy who has witnessed a lot of pain over the years.
Cry Macho has a problem with identity; too alike to previous films such as Gran Torino and The Mule but never reaching the heights of either of them, especially the former. The story was nice, the relationships were sweet, but that is about as far as it goes, hopefully this is a clear indication that this will be – and certainly should be – Eastwood’s last starring role, especially as a hardened cowboy, something he will always be remembered for.
Cry Macho is available to watch on certain VOD platforms and local cinemas now.
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