Cry Macho

29 years ago William Munny gunned down Little Bill Daggett and slowly rode out of the town of Big Whiskey. The film was Unforgiven, a brilliant farewell to the genre that had put Clint Eastwood on the movie map back in 1964 with A Fistful Of Dollars and as the credits rolled we all assumed it would be the last time we ever saw him on horseback. We most definitely didn't see it happening again at the age of 91 but here he is, back in the saddle and with that twinkle still in his eye. Cry Macho is far from his best work but jesus it's still a pleasure to see him on the big screen. 

Halfway through Cry Macho Clint's Michael Milo punches a bloke in the face and knocks him on his arse. If it was any other nonagenarian you'd scoff but eight (!!) decades of seeing him onscreen has earned him our loyalty so we believe it when he decks someone and really believe it when Dwight Yoakam's shady businessman Howard Polk hires ex rodeo rider Michael to find his son Rafo (Eduardo Minett) down in Mexico. It feels right when Rafo decides to trust this stranger looking to bring him to Texas. It never once feels cheesy when Michael charms everyone he meets on his journey. N. Richard Nash wrote the book this was based on in 1975 and Hollywood has been trying to adapt it for screen since 1988. Eastwood's first attempt fell through that year followed by a doomed effort with Roy Scheider three years later. In 2011 an adaption by Arnold Schwarzeneggar failed and eventually the rights came back around to Mr Eastwood and you'll be glad they did because it feels like it was written just for him.

Not much happens in Cry Macho but that's part of it's charm. A man is tasked with finding a boy and bringing him to his father. That's it, that's the story. The film is mostly a roadtrip one with an extended stay in a small village where Clint turns into Doctor Dolittle (seriously) while falling for Marta (Natalia Traven) an abuela who runs the local cafe. This is the part of the film that will slay those who came looking for some south of the border Gringo vs Mexican action of that kind you'll see in a Stallone flick. Nope, the closest Cry Macho gets to action is the aforementioned punch or when the chicken who gives the film it's title decides to take care of business near the end. It's a hangout story, two new friends getting to know each other, opening up to each other, each bringing out the best in each other. At the start of the film Michael was content to fade away while Rafo was happy to settle into a life of crime but now, well things always change for the better when you've a buddy.

Our hero is looking his age now, he's starting to use obvious stunt doubles, he doesn't steal the attention the way he used to but when he's lying back others get to shine most noticeably Natalia Traven's Marta. Michael's relationship with her might feel kinda fairytale but it's taken right from the source material which thankfully has been softened to take into account Marta and Michael's increased ages in the film. Other edges have been softened too which turns one potentially interesting subplot into an annoying dead end near the end of the film, a plot point that feels like it was thrown into the mix just to add excitement to the film's trailer. It's just faked, forced tension in a story that really doesn't need it.

It's not the western you'd have wished for but it's the only one we realistically could have gotten. It's a charming and interesting look at someone who's defined masculinity in movies for what seems like ever but who's come to realise, in his twilight years, that compassion > strength. Cry > macho.

In cinemas now.