CRY MACHO: Clint Eastwood’s Latest is a Mixed Bag of Emotions

It’s hard to deny Clint Eastwood‘s legendary status: whether for his Westerns, both acting and directing in them, for his Award-winning dramas, or for seemingly never getting too old to direct and/or star in a movie. And time and time again, he has proven this, with a string of successes in recent years both in front of and behind the camera. With Cry Macho, though, it seems his star status has waned, at least somewhat. The movie is at least watchable, containing some of his trademark themes and qualities, but overall, it is still one of his less-accomplished works.

The Neo-Western

Cry Macho is classified as a neo-Western, a type of movie that has gained traction in recent years with films like The Rider and the more recent Concrete Cowboy. Taking place in 1979, Eastwood plays Mike Milo, an aging Texas rodeo star who has retired. Approached one day by an old friend named Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam), he is hired to go down to Mexico to retrieve Howard’s son to bring to America, who he claims is being abused down there by his mother. Reluctantly, Mike agrees, and he sets off, eventually finding Rafael “Rafo” at a c*ckfight. Convincing him to come back with him to Texas, he is soon confronted by the boy’s mother Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), who wants Rafo to stay in Mexico. After the two leave for the border, she hires henchmen to track them down. It is up to Mike and Rafo, along with his trusty rooster Macho, to make it back to the border safely in order to meet up with Rafo’s father.

Along the way, Mike and Rafo predictably become closer despite some immediate friction between them. It’s the classic story of one generation giving way to the next, while passing on their knowledge. It’s a story that Eastwood himself has portrayed in movies in the past, such as Gran Torino. And one of the reasons these stories are so desirable is because of how relatable they can be: we’ve all hopefully had someone of an older generation help us to gain more of an understanding of ourselves and who we want to be. In Cry Macho, Mike tries to teach Rafo about the ideas of being “macho” and how it’s more important to just be a good person than to try to be tough, while also expressing the importance of learning how to do things, like riding a horse. It’s a refreshing change and a softening from some of his older characters, who typically emphasized toughness above all else.

A Star in His Waning Years

Speaking of older characters, though, one of Eastwood’s best movies, Unforgiven, somehow came out nearly thirty years ago. At that point, at the age of 62, it by all rights should have been Eastwood‘s Swan Song, for performances at least. But he has continued acting since, and typically the movies are all the better for it. In Million Dollar Baby, for example, he plays an aging boxer who looks after an up-and-coming star; while in Gran Torino, he plays a hardened Korean veteran who befriends a next-door Hmong boy. Even more recently, he plays a drug mule in his 80’s in The Mule. What all these movies have in common, though, is that the age fits the role. In The Mule, for example, you can see that Eastwood doesn’t quite have the spring in his step the way he used to, but it fits the performance because he’s meant to be seen as an old man who gets in over his head by getting involved with gangsters and drug cartels.

It’s for that reason that Cry Macho was somewhat of a letdown to me: because, for once, it didn’t seem like Clint Eastwood‘s age was a proper match for the role itself. Eastwood was even approached back in the late ’80s to play the lead character in an adaptation of this movie, but turned it down at the time in order to do the latest Dirty Harry film. But it’s a Clint at that age that the performance calls for. Think of Unforgiven once again, where he plays a cowboy slightly past his prime, willing to put it all on the line for one last ride. In Cry Macho, the character is not only meant to be seen as physically demanding, but also has scenes where he sits on a buckling horse, gets in a car chase, and even has a romantic subplot with someone much younger than him.

At the ripe old age of 91 years old, Eastwood just doesn’t seem up for it at times; he can still make a man crumble with his gruff, though slightly less powerful voice, the rest of his stature just isn’t quite there to the extent that it used to be. At one point in the movie, Eastwood’s character even seems aware of this, as he is handed an ailing dog to help cure, and declares that he “can’t fix old.” It’s a bit of an ironic moment because we know such a statement to be true, and yet he still cast himself in the lead role from the start. It may be nostalgic to see the legendary cowboy back up on a horse, wearing a cowboy hat like the days of old, but there doesn’t seem to be any self-awareness in this moment or many others, and therefore the nostalgia does not have much of an effect.

The Good

Despite these setbacks, Cry Macho is actually quite amusing at times. At one point, Mike and Rafo reach a small Mexican town, where they are welcomed with open arms by the townspeople. Mike gets hired to break in horses, having had extensive experience with this in his past, while they also befriend some of the children and other townspeople, and are taken in by a local restaurant owner, who soon comes to have feelings for Mike. It’s a quiet, serene series of moments, emphasized by the melancholic score by Mark Mancina and some mood-casting natural lighting by cinematographer Ben Davis. At the same time, you start to feel empathy for the people in this small town, who are just trying to get by and are content with their simple day-to-day lives. By slowing down and allowing us to breathe, we start to feel for the people all across the world who live in these types of small towns as well, giving them a depth of humanity not often seen.

Such scenes, though, also seem to emphasize the lack of tension in Cry Macho. Written by Eastwood regular Nick Schenk, the film doesn’t have the same drive that his screenplays typically possess. For example, a man named Aurelio (Horacio Garcia Rojas), a henchman hired by Leta, at a few points approaches Mike and Rafo in order to prevent their passage into the United States. Rather than it being a huge obstacle each time, though, instead, each conflict is resolved rather quickly, and overall it doesn’t feel like there is much standing in the way on their way north. Such an aspect does play slightly into the theme of the movie: that it’s not necessary to be macho all the time in order to be respected, but it does undercut itself as well since it doesn’t feel quite as triumphant when our protagonists have completed their journey.

Conclusion

To conclude, Cry Macho is a middling later effort by a still-living legend. It’s a letdown perhaps for two main reasons: for one, it’s a disappointment compared to the successful run of movies Eastwood has done in recent years (with the possible exception of The 15:17 to Paris), but even more so, it’s a letdown because there is still a lot of praiseworthy aspects here, and with just perhaps some recasting and a few script revisions, it could’ve been a roaring success. As it is, Eastwood himself has both told and portrayed this type of story far more successfully in the past. It’s hopefully not an indication that he’s losing his touch, as I’m hoping he sticks around for more movies, but it is evidence that even the best storyteller can slip up from time to time.

What are your thoughts on Cry Macho? Are you a fan of Clint Eastwood’s later movies?

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