Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Cry Macho

This film is a beautiful swan song to Clint Eastwood and his incredible body of work over his amazing career. This is an emotional, well acted and at times suspenseful story that will have you gripped to the screen the whole way through.  Very much like a lot of Eastwood’s films that have come before it this is a character study on the human condition which he likes to delve into quite a bit in a lot of his pictures. Here the performance he gives I would say is his most emotionally sincere and very touching that will leave you in tears. This film has got mixed reviews some people like it some don’t and honestly I don’t know why as this is a terrific film that has Clint back in the saddle giving what feels like his goodbye to the old cowboy genre he helped redefine. This is a slow film for sure but it takes its time and it’s such a beautiful story brought to life by an  icon of cinema. 

Firstly, The film is a beautiful story about A old rodeo rider who does a favour for a friend of his to go find his kid and meet him at the border to bring back to his father. Now the story is so well executed and amazingly brought to life as Eastwood’s film in 2018 was a fantastic comeback performance for him as up to that point he had not acted since trouble with the curve. The Mule was a fantastic film both directed and acted by him but what makes this film different to the Mule is that this feels very final. As Clint Eastwood started his career back with Rawhide and really helped refine what we knew as the spaghetti western genre and he closed it with the truly masterful Unforgiven from the 90’s. Now I have said and I’ll still say unforgiven was the truly last great western and what Cry Macho brings tho is a close to that character that persona that Eastwood captured brilliantly time and time again. This isn’t a old fashioned cowboy western it’s a character piece on a mans life who’s spent his life as that type of personality. It feels very emotional and If you’ve grown up with Eastwood like I have not only will you be satisfied as a fan of his work but this film will hit you like an emotional punch in the chest as Cry Macho is a truly fantastic film for him to go out on for one last ride into the sunset as this type of character. 

Secondly, The performances by Clint Eastwood and Eduardo Minett are truly terrific. First off Eastwood gives one of his most emotionally hard hitting performances of his career in a truly dazzling performance that oozes the charismatic energy he always has. Then you have Eduardo Minett who gives a truly solid breakout performance and considering he’s acting against such a cinematic icon he does truly hold his own. He brings such great emotional conviction and compelling grit through his performance that will impress you and leave you in awe. Both of them play off each other so we’ll and you can see the natural chemistry and it’s fantastic as both actors are giving fantastic top notch performances but Clint definitely is giving his absolute all in this film and truly pours his heart out on the screen. Everyone else gave great performances but it’s the solid performances from its two leads that will

Blow you away.

Lastly, Cry Macho is a swan song to a truly incredible career and Clint Eastwood gets back In the saddle one last time to deliver what is probably his most emotionally raw performance of his career with a story that will engage you and have you emotionally moved. Cry Macho is a beautiful story with fantastic performances and a great ride off into the sunset by one of the icons of cinema. 

This film centres around a rodeo rider who pays back his friend by doing him a favour and finding his son in Mexico and meeting him at the border but a bond starts to form and twist and turns prevent them from coming back straight away. 

Rated PG - 13 : Thematic Elements, Language

Clint Eastwood : Eastwood delivers his most emotionally touching performance that tops his work in million dollar baby. Here he plays a rodeo rider that has had his day and is thrown into an adventure when he has to retrieve a kid for his friend. Now Clint never plays his characters one dimensionally he’s always brought so many qualities to them that make them so memorable. Here he brings such deep soul to the character of Mike that your heart goes out to him instantly and keep in mind this is Clint Eastwood he’s a tough guy who has played his fair share of hard knuckled roles. So for him to take on a character that is tough yes and has all those qualities of personalities he’s played into before here he does exactly what he brought to million dollar baby, Gran Torino and Unforgiven which is emotional tenderness.  Theirs a real rawness he taps into yes he’s done similar in the films I just named but here it’s different he’s very gentle in his approach to every line and how it impacts a scene. Mike shows his years behind him as stories and pieces of advice to help teach the kid he’s getting how to approach being a man in today’s society and just how to survive through life. Now it’s not preachy or cheesy it’s earned so well through the emotional honesty through his voice and his eyes. Theirs a moment that is one of his best acted scenes I’ve ever scene he opens up to this kid in a scene where he talks about why he’s become the emotionally hardened person he now is and he has a cowboy hat on you can’t see his full face just a small bit. In the scene his voice cracks and you can see tears stream down his face and it’s shown in such realistic emotion it doesn’t feel like acting you can truly see Eastwood’s heart out on full display showing sides to him we haven’t seen him tap into in a long time and it’s truly captivating to witness. At first glance he’s hard as nails to this kid and over the course of the film he evolves so much and opens up to the kid where eventually he can show every ounce of emotion he denied himself to feel for so many years. It’s such a tender performance wrapped in toughness and heartbreak and Eastwood brings his all to the role sparking so much charismatic energy that crackles off the screen. It felt like a goodbye to these types of roles he had played as the man is 91 years old now and not saying he can’t do it again but this felt like a fitting close to that specific character he embodied so many times in his past work and this was a way of him giving one last big performance as that persona but he approaches it differently in a very emotional way. It’s a performance that will have you gripped to the screen from start to finish and by the final act you’ll be smiling while crying knowing this is probably the last time we’ll see Clint showcase that iconic cowboy hat and tough as nails persona in front of the screen and if it is Clint you have a fitting final bow of a performance that is truly an outstanding one. 

Clint Eastwood : Eastwood directs this film so beautifully! Now I’ve seen about half of his directed films from mystic River, Unforgiven, American Sniper, Million Dollar Baby, And the list goes on but I’ve seen a good amount of his work behind the camera and sometimes in front of the camera and also behind as he can direct and act in his films which he seems to enjoy. Here he brings that one two punch of directing and starring now for the longest time I thought his truly crowning achievement of directing was Unforgiven and Gran Torino. Now I’m not saying this film comes close to the brilliance of those two films of his but what I am saying is that here he taps into a very deep rooted emotional depth he’s only done a few times before. Here he presents a very vulnerable side to him some sides we haven’t seen explored to this degree. As Clint is very soft in his approach to the material and also his performance. As the film is shot beautifully the landscapes and has a big canvas in terms of scope but it’s very small and intimate with the story and I love that. As Clint has always done stories on the human condition and the connection between two people and here the shows the evolving bond between this man mike and this kid and their father son type relationship that forms out of it. The film is very much a slow burn and for some people that is not to their liking and ok but I rather liked how he slowed down the pacing and let the scenes flow out and just letting the emotion spill out in such beautiful moments of acting between the two. In the beginning you can sense that tension between the two of them and how hostile they are to one another  and then as the story progresses that eases and we see why they are the way they are as human beings and Eastwood presents that emotional openness in such a natural and authentic way that it at times doesn’t feel like acting but just a Casual conversation between two people. It’s beautifully directed by Clint who gives us a truly heartfelt story that will emotionally move you and captivate you all the way through if it’s from the amazing story unfolding in front of you or the incredible performances Eastwood once again knocks it out of the park showing he is a true force in front of the camera and behind it.