"Cry Macho" Directed and starring Clint Eastwood

Another angry-old-meets-boy Clint Eastwood film, he's really banging them out. I left the theater after a half hour because the acting was horrible, the story stupid, and everything thrown at you unsubtly and cheaply. Clint's a semi-presence. His voice so low, I heard people repeating his lines to each other to catch them. On the other end of the delivery spectrum is a young Mexican boy, channelling (loudly) all the over-acting you've ever seen from a kid. And his pet chicken! He speaks this phony street-urchin patois, and must have studied for his part by watching "Ferdinand and the Bull" over and over. Please. I couldn't believe it. His dialog is beyond awful - cliche, racist - and he delivers it like a stereotype from the 50s. Maybe he was directed that way, given the way all the parts are delivered like a Telemundo soap. I couldn't keep watching. There is some unbelievable set up from which the kid is supposed to be "rescued" from a million dollar mansion in Mexico because of his crazy mother - which makes no sense. Just dumb. Don't waste your dinero.

 

As I was watching the trailer for this new movie on TV the other day, all that I could help thinking was ... didn't he just make a film with this same type of plot "smuggling something from Mexico into the U.S.?" ("The Mule"). It's hard to not appreciate Clint, but he lost me somewhere between the political "empty chair" and his ruining (in MY opinion) of the great broadway play about Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons ("Jersey Boys").

 

Best part of the movie is that it was filmed in my old home state of New Mexico. Clint's character should have been a younger old man. I streamed it and almost turned it off but the NM landscapes kept me watching.

 

That must've be nice for you to see your old home landscape in a motion picture. If I were you I might have to actually venture into an actual theater to see that on the BIG screen?

 

Great poster with Clint /Stetson

 

My big HD TV was good enough. I only moved over the border to Arizona two years ago so I still get back to NM often. I've been fortunate enough to live in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming over the last 50 years but NM will always be home.

 

You have seen a lot of beautiful America with all of those moves! One my most favorite visions that I will always remember was a simple one and that was a photo of my wife and I sitting by the window of the now sadly closed "Cliff House" in San Francisco, with the sun setting behind us and the sun shining, ever so perfectly, back off a rock onto my wife's face.

 

Much of the film was filmed here in the town that I live in. We all went out and saw Clint for a few days last year.

 

I've seen old photos of the Cliff House in all of its splendor.

 

SF's iconic Cliff House space to reopen with new restaurant in 2022

 

A “critics pick” at NYT—whatta they know, right? … you seem to have garnered a lot in just a half hour.

 

I will watch and have consistently enjoyed Clint's directorial outings for about 20 years now (even the badly reviewed stuff, I still enjoyed).

I do think it's a shame he didn't stop acting with Gran Tourino which he originally announced he would when that was released (or at least I have some vague memory of this).

 

It is pretty bad. As I watched it, I thought the ending would be along the lines of The Professionals, but I was wrong.

Clint looks like something from Tales From The Crypt, and they give him a romantic interest 40 years his junior.

Sometimes there are subtitles, sometimes not. Sometimes Clint understands Spanish, sometimes his romantic interest understands English, sometimes not.

It’s all form with no content, and no good Clint tag line.

Glad I didn’t leave home to see it.

 

Thanks for the rundown. From the trailer I suspected it was going to be pretty close to what you describe. You saved me the price of a ticket that was more well spent on "Copshop", a much more entertaining film I saw last night at my local theater.

 

One of the worst movies I've ever seen, period. Without Eastwood's involvement, and money, this never gets made. It's really stupid, and I'm an Eastwood fan.

 

Tales from the crypt! He was way too old even to be playing an aged retired cowboy. He's done this before. He was too old to play Terry McCaleb in Bloodwork. Not to mention changing the ending from the book. He was too old to play the lead in True Crime. Great book, bad movie. I'm a huge fan though and he's starred in and directed some of all time favorite movies. This one was terrible, except for the scenery. The ending wasn't how I thought it would go down either.

 

As a metric to gauge my potential interest in the new Cry Macho HBO film: What did you think about Gran Torino? How many stars out of five?

 

This thread confirms that this is a film I will skip. The previews were awful in my view.
I thought 2018 film The Mule was really good. I like the eccentric old man he plays in it, who ends up dealing with some dangerous folks completely by accident. It's funny and tugs at the heartstrings without being preachy or sanctimonious. Good stuff!

 

I liked The Mule too. Maybe if they had found a kid who could act it would have helped. At least a little.

 

On a separate topic, does anyone know the name of the song/artist (Mariachi/dance) towards the end that Clint/love interest dance to. It’s played one other time as well. Also, it’s not on the soundtrack and/or referenced anywhere.

 

Credits? Clint often writes/plays his own soundtracks!

 

my wife and I loved this...just wonderful. In our book Clint can do no wrong...we're fans...simply. : )

 

indeed...his best look.

 

the last song of the film when Clint is dancing with the lady at the ending...what song is this? it is not on the original soundtrack...does anyone know the title and artist? it seems impossible to find! Thanks guys!

 

Best part was Clint himself. He didn't really do much though. I feel like they wrote the script with his age in mind, ie. he mostly went around and sat inside diners or restaurants or just simply fell asleep. The best part was the heart to heart with him and the kid (I don't even remember his name, Hector?) where he explains what happened to his family. Such a great scene in an otherwise mediocre film. Hope he comes out with something really special next as I love watching Clint Eastwood on screen.