He is probably one of the last great Hollywood icons: Clint Eastwood. Not only did he make history as an actor, he played a key role in shaping the western and action genres through films like ‘Two Glorious Scoundrels’, ‘Merciless’ and ‘Dirty Harry’. As a director, Eastwood is also one of the greats in the industry and has delivered many highlights, especially after the turn of the millennium (for example “Mystic River” or “Million Dollar Baby”).
It is remarkable that Clint Eastwood never gets tired of continuing to make films and sometimes even take on leading roles, even at his really (!) old age. His last film to date “Call macho“, a neo-western that is also an action film and a very unusual early work, is now available to stream with a Netflix subscription.
That’s what ‘Cry Macho’ is about
Galveston, Texas, late 1970s: Once a respected rodeo star, Mike Milo (Clint Eastwood) is forced to leave his job after a serious accident. Since then he has worked as a horse breeder and has struggled to make ends meet. When Mike’s former boss Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam) offers him a lucrative contract, the aging cowboy doesn’t refuse, despite some legitimate concerns.
He would travel to Mexico and capture Howard’s 13-year-old son Rafo (Eduardo Minett). He lives with his alcoholic, rich mother Leta (Fernanda Urrejola) and has ended up on the wrong path. The teenager participates in illegal cockfights with his feathered pet Macho. Meanwhile, Howard Polk plans to kidnap his son to extort a ransom from his ex-wife. But not everything goes according to plan…
Fascinating, strange, beautiful
In the official FILMSTARS review, “Cry Macho” received a good 3.5 out of 5 possible stars. Our author Jochen Werner writes in his conclusion: “An unusual and rather strange early work that you have to read a bit against the grain to discover its beauty. If you can commit to it, you will be richly rewarded.”
Although the film is designed as a big chase scene, Clint Eastwood attaches no importance to staging “Cry Macho” as a dynamic genre film, but focuses entirely on the characters. So it’s somehow not all that surprising, but rather charmingly amusing, that Eastwood’s pursuers and his protégé are continually shrugged off using the simplest of means, occasionally taking a long break.
But to really gain access to ‘Cry Macho’ you should not limit yourself to what the film tells or how it tells it, but rather pay attention to what it does not tell, namely between the images and the words: “This makes Eastwood’s fortieth directorial an incredibly volatile, almost alien film – and in some ways, it cannot be denied, a rather bizarre film.”
Bizarre also because Eastwood is so clearly getting older that the role here is only theoretically tailored to him. In his vulnerability, Eastwood still throws punches, rides wild horses through dusty streets and flatters women who could easily be his granddaughters. This means that Eastwood remains in the role of the action hero with whom he once became famous.
Ultimately, you have to show ‘Cry Macho’ some respect: “The small, stooped, fragile old man on the screen no longer has to prove anything and no longer has to play a credible role here. It’s enough that Eastwood embodies them, just as the film no longer actually tells its conflicts but rather puts them in the room and lets events wash over them at their leisure.