318. Cry Macho; movie review

 

 

CRY MACHO

Cert 12A

104 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate bad language, violence, child abuse references

I thought Clint Eastwood's final bow was Gran Torino and that was 13 years ago.

He proved me wrong with his performance in Mule and with his direction of the likes of Sully and Richard Jewell.

But now he is 91 years old - playing a romantic lead alongside an actress young enough to be his daughter or even grand-daughter just doesn't look right.

But even worse, his direction has lost its edge. He used to create the cliches - now he is following them.

Eastwood plays a retired champion rodeo rider and trainer who is hired by his former boss (Dwight Yoakam) to go to Mexico to find his estranged teenage son (Eduardo Minett).

The obstacle is the boy's headstrong mother (Fernanda Urrejola) who is involved in dodgy business and has armed bodyguards.

The alarm bells really started ringing when the 40-year-old literally threw herself on to the bed to entice Eastwood's character between the sheets.

Now there is no denying that in his Dirty Harry Days, our Clint was something of a catch for the ladies.

He is admirably fit for his advanced years but I would suggest that a round of golf in a cart is going to be the limit of his physical capabilities.

Bedroom gymnastics with a buxom lass who was born when he was 51 is probably not on his agenda.

Notions of nonagenarian nookie distracted from the rather more wholesome relationship which the old horseman develops with his boss's son.

The two make an unlikely double act as the former imparts wisdom on a boy who has grown up fatherless.

In return, the pensioner discovers that the young can teach the elderly a thing or two.

Sadly, however, the dialogue is clunky and there isn't enough meat in the story.

It is far far below Eastwood's standards both in terms of direction and acting.

Reasons to watch: Clint Eastwood

Reasons to avoid: Clunky and laboured

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? In 2011, following the completion of Arnold Schwarzenegger's terms as California governor, he was lined up to play the lead in Cry Macho but the project was derailed by a high-profile personal scandal.

The final word. Clint Eastwood: "This story was first given to me almost 40 years ago. I knew the character needed some mileage on him, so I turned it down; I remember suggesting that Robert Mitchum would be good for it. Then it just kind of hung there. And every other year I’d go, “Whatever happened to that?” Parade

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