Cry Macho

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eduardo Minett, Dwight Yoakam, Natalia Traven, Fernanda Urrejola

Director: Clint Eastwood

Based on the novel "Cry Macho" by N. Richard Nash

Retired rodeo superstar Mike Milo (Eastwood), who was forced to retire after a horrible injury, is hired by his old boss Howard Polk (Yoakam) to go to Mexico to get his son Rafo (Minett) from his mother Leta (Urrejola) and bring him to Texas. Although this isn't the first time Howard has tried this, according to Leta, Mike convinces Rafo to join him and against Leta's wishes they head off to Texas with Rafo's rooster Macho along for the ride. As their journey progresses, Mike and Rafo bond as they find themselves entrenched in a small local town and are helped by Marta (Traven). Although they are enjoying life there, the truth of Mike's mission becomes clear and they must find a way to get across the border while trying to escape the Federales as well as Leta's henchman Aurelio, who is hot on their heels.

After many years, Eastwood returns to the genre where he made his name, although this time with considerably less gun slinging.

This is a considerably more sensitive Eastwood than we've seen in a while. At 91 years old, Eastwood has shown no signs of slowing down, having directed (and occasionally starred in) 6 features over the past 7 years. While the quality of those films has varied, Eastwood still knows what kind of films he wants to make, While this isn't necessarily a great movie, I can see it holding up better than Gran Torino.

His chemistry with newcomer Minett is quite good and the driving force to see the film. I do wish they had avoided the grizzled, one liner machine that has become an Eastwood staple. We also don't really get to know much about Eastwood's Mike before we are thrust into the story. Backstory does come out, but I think there was a different way to tell this story that could have given it more meaning. The only time the movie comes close is in a closing speech by Eastwood about masculinity. It works in the moment but if the film was an examination of that idea, it would have served the film better had this speech come earlier. It also feels like an unearned redemptive moment, when Mike didn't really change at all over the course of the film.

Speaking of the story, it is definitely the weakest aspect of the film. It never finds its footing and often meanders from scene to scene without any sense of purpose. There are people on Mike and Rafo's tail but you never feel the tension of them being one step away. There is no real sense of pacing as the few "action" scenes come and go so quickly. The two female characters in the film either try to seduce Mike (luckily we are spared the imagery of that, unlike in Eastwood's The Mule) or serve as a redemptive love interest. There is nothing really established as to what Marta sees in Mike other than that they both had their significant other die many years prior,

I didn't dislike this movie but it will be a forgotten entry, like much of Eastwood's latest, in his filmography.

Grade: C

Cry Macho is available in theaters and on HBOMax