CRY MACHO
***
Director: Clint Eastwood
Screenwriters: Nick Schenk and N. Richard Nash, based on Nash’s eponymous novel.
Principal cast:
Clint Eastwood
Dwight Yoakam
Eduardo Minett
Fernanda Urrejola
Horacio García-Rojas
Natalia Traven
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 104 mins.
Australian release date: 25 November 2021.
The sentimental feeling that emerges while watching Cry Macho, the latest film from director/actor Clint Eastwood, might be because this could be Eastwood’s final directorial role and maybe his last as an actor. That’s a more likely reason than the sentiment on display in the script, which positively drips in wholesomeness and integrity; in short, it feels like the final film of a man who wants to impart some lessons learnt in his 91 years. In the opening scene, Mike Milo (Eastwood), a rugged cowboy and ex-rodeo star dressed in a denim jacket and a ten-gallon hat, steps from his vintage ute onto a dusty road, accompanied by a country music track. From that moment on, you know that you are in for a fairly traditional ride and, you suspect, there won’t be any “Feeling lucky, punk?” lines in this movie.
Set in Texas in 1979, Milo, who was a rodeo attraction until a serious fall from a horse broke his back and his career, is making a living working as a horse trainer for rancher Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam). When Milo is late again for work, Polk sacks him, saying, “You’re a loss to no-one” (and also giving the audience a monologue on how Milo hit the booze and the pills after his fall). A year later, however, Milo is approached by his former boss to drive across the border to Mexico City to basically ‘kidnap’ his son, who he wants brought to the USA so that he can establish a long overdue father-son relationship with him. Milo reluctantly agrees to take on the task in order to repay the assistance Polk gave him after his accident but, when he finally tracks down the 13-year-old boy, Rafael (Eduardo Minett) - who has a fighting rooster named ‘Macho’ - he has to extract him from the clutches of his bitter, alcoholic mother, Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), who dislikes her son but is determined not to let him be with his father. Leta is ‘living large’ and seems to be up to no good and it turns out that Milo is not the first person who has been sent to bring the boy back to the States. So far, no-one has been successful in extracting the boy from his mother’s clutches and she’s not going to let him go without a fight.
At times, the key performances are surprisingly stilted, particularly when Yoakum and Eastwood are setting up the deal to get ‘Rafo’. Eastwood has some good one-liners, though, which lighten up some scenes and reminds his audience of his unique acting style (he would play an Aussie well - his lips barely part when he speaks, so no chance of catching flies). Young Eduardo Minett is terrific as a kid who’s never been loved and has a giant chip on his shoulder as a result. The relationship between Milo and ‘Rafo’ develops as they travel north and the inclusion of ‘Macho’ makes for some endearing moments as Milo imparts some of what he’s learnt to the uneducated boy. At one stage, they’re forced to hole up in a town in the middle of nowhere, where they are looked after by a café owner, Marta (Natalia Traven), who takes a shine to the old man and his charge. Traven is very good and makes this unlikely liaison quite believable, to her credit (she’s considerably younger than Eastwood). The music is great, too. It’s country and western in Texas but distinctly mexicano once we’re south of the border.
Cry Macho, based on N. Richard Nash’s 1975 novel, had been doing the rounds of Hollywood for many years. It was cast with a number of different actors at various times (including Burt Lancaster, Roy Scheider, Pierce Brosnan, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger) but none got up until Eastwood took the reins and developed the project with him as the lead. If this is indeed his directorial swansong, he has succeeded in completing his life’s work with a film that adds to his record of achievement - not his best film by any means but, for a guy in his nineties, a movie that proves he still has the chops to pull off a role like this. Bravo, Clint, bravo.
Screenwriters: Nick Schenk and N. Richard Nash, based on Nash’s eponymous novel.
Principal cast:
Clint Eastwood
Dwight Yoakam
Eduardo Minett
Fernanda Urrejola
Horacio García-Rojas
Natalia Traven
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 104 mins.
Australian release date: 25 November 2021.
The sentimental feeling that emerges while watching Cry Macho, the latest film from director/actor Clint Eastwood, might be because this could be Eastwood’s final directorial role and maybe his last as an actor. That’s a more likely reason than the sentiment on display in the script, which positively drips in wholesomeness and integrity; in short, it feels like the final film of a man who wants to impart some lessons learnt in his 91 years. In the opening scene, Mike Milo (Eastwood), a rugged cowboy and ex-rodeo star dressed in a denim jacket and a ten-gallon hat, steps from his vintage ute onto a dusty road, accompanied by a country music track. From that moment on, you know that you are in for a fairly traditional ride and, you suspect, there won’t be any “Feeling lucky, punk?” lines in this movie.
Set in Texas in 1979, Milo, who was a rodeo attraction until a serious fall from a horse broke his back and his career, is making a living working as a horse trainer for rancher Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam). When Milo is late again for work, Polk sacks him, saying, “You’re a loss to no-one” (and also giving the audience a monologue on how Milo hit the booze and the pills after his fall). A year later, however, Milo is approached by his former boss to drive across the border to Mexico City to basically ‘kidnap’ his son, who he wants brought to the USA so that he can establish a long overdue father-son relationship with him. Milo reluctantly agrees to take on the task in order to repay the assistance Polk gave him after his accident but, when he finally tracks down the 13-year-old boy, Rafael (Eduardo Minett) - who has a fighting rooster named ‘Macho’ - he has to extract him from the clutches of his bitter, alcoholic mother, Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), who dislikes her son but is determined not to let him be with his father. Leta is ‘living large’ and seems to be up to no good and it turns out that Milo is not the first person who has been sent to bring the boy back to the States. So far, no-one has been successful in extracting the boy from his mother’s clutches and she’s not going to let him go without a fight.
At times, the key performances are surprisingly stilted, particularly when Yoakum and Eastwood are setting up the deal to get ‘Rafo’. Eastwood has some good one-liners, though, which lighten up some scenes and reminds his audience of his unique acting style (he would play an Aussie well - his lips barely part when he speaks, so no chance of catching flies). Young Eduardo Minett is terrific as a kid who’s never been loved and has a giant chip on his shoulder as a result. The relationship between Milo and ‘Rafo’ develops as they travel north and the inclusion of ‘Macho’ makes for some endearing moments as Milo imparts some of what he’s learnt to the uneducated boy. At one stage, they’re forced to hole up in a town in the middle of nowhere, where they are looked after by a café owner, Marta (Natalia Traven), who takes a shine to the old man and his charge. Traven is very good and makes this unlikely liaison quite believable, to her credit (she’s considerably younger than Eastwood). The music is great, too. It’s country and western in Texas but distinctly mexicano once we’re south of the border.
Cry Macho, based on N. Richard Nash’s 1975 novel, had been doing the rounds of Hollywood for many years. It was cast with a number of different actors at various times (including Burt Lancaster, Roy Scheider, Pierce Brosnan, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger) but none got up until Eastwood took the reins and developed the project with him as the lead. If this is indeed his directorial swansong, he has succeeded in completing his life’s work with a film that adds to his record of achievement - not his best film by any means but, for a guy in his nineties, a movie that proves he still has the chops to pull off a role like this. Bravo, Clint, bravo.