Movie Review: Cry Macho

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

At 91 years old Clint Eastwood still proves himself to be a filmmaker and actor of the highest rank. 

It's not the destination it's the journey. This adage perfectly describes this movie. The storyline its self to be fair very slight. Not much actually happens over the course of this film. Yet despite this it still manages to be a great movie. It is the little moments in this film that make it work. The movie moves at a slower place and lets us truly spend time with the characters and the town they find themselves in. As we spend time with them we find many delightful and touching episodes. We fall in love with the old tavern that our two heroes find themselves in, we enjoy watching Clint's character take care of animals and help tame wild horses, we are charmed by them sleeping in a church and finding a lady leaving breakfast for them in the morning, we enjoy watching Clint's American cowboy fall in love with a small Mexican town and the people there. Most of all though we enjoy the relationship between our two main characters. To be honest there is nothing original about an old man who is hired to transport a young teenage boy and the two beginning a meaningful friendship. Yet I have seldom seen it done so well. The friendship feels completely believable, is never rushed and allows for some very touching moments. Despite his tough guy persona, Clint Eastwood has never been one to shy away from sentimentality in his films. While sentimentality may be frowned upon by many today, when it is done well, it can be truly effective and few can do it better than Clint. Here he uses that sentimentality to create something extremely charming and moving. 

There is also a lot to be said for Clint playing the main character. The director/actor has mostly stayed behind the camera in recent years, but he must have known this role shouldn't be played by anyone but him. Often times it is best to separate the actor and the character when watching a movie, but this is an exception. Clint Eastwood, who has played much of his younger days playing characters that were pure tough macho guys, is just right to play a character who used to be one of those type of characters he used to play. The character having grown older and wiser and seeing the problems with always having to be macho gains an extra poignancy by Clint playing the main role. Even at 91 he has lost none of his acting talent and he is truly great in this film.

This movie is a must see especially if you are a fan of the old man.