Title – Cry Macho (2021) 

Director – Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) 

Cast – Clint Eastwood, Eduardo Minett, Dwight Yoakam, Natalia Traven

Plot – Washed up rodeo star, horse breeder and old-timer Mike Milo (Eastwood) is tasked by his ex-boss Howard Polk (Yoakam) to head to Mexico and retrieve his teenage son Rafo (Minett) of whom he has long been estranged. 

“It’s like anything else in life: you think you got all the answers, then you realize, as you get older, you don’t have any of them”

Review by Eddie on 16/12/2021

After 70 plus years in the industry and after having a hand in some of the most beloved films of all time, it feels inherently wrong to not only not enjoy a Clint Eastwood film but to find little to no joy in it at all, a sad fact that exists in the 91 year old’s latest misguided effort in front of and behind the camera, Cry Macho, another of his recent films that you wish had never seen the light of day.  

Coming together in Eastwood’s typically efficient time frame, that often see’s the filmmaker get a film shot and completed for release in under 12 months time, Cry Macho once more see’s Eastwood portray a grizzled old cowboy who knows his way around a fist fight and is irresistible to the ladies even at his ripe old age, as his ex-rodeo star/widower Mike Milo heads to Mexico at the request of his acquaintance Howard Polk (played with little gusto by Dwight Yoakam) to go and collect his estranged teenage son Rafo, played by relative newcomer Eduardo Minett. 

It’s a simplistic set-up and one that doesn’t try to at any moment mess with any form of stereotypical scenarios found in this mismatched friendship tales, while screenwriters Nick Schenk and N. Richard Nash ensure Milo is very must quintessential Eastwood, all one-liners and wry looks, in what ends up being yet another version of his Gran Torino, The Mule and Trouble with the Curve caricatures, only this time around there is not even one moment that you feel as though Eastwood should be playing this role as his age becomes a consistent and glaringly off-putting presence throughout the film. 

It’s hard too know whether a change of lead actor with Eastwood behind the camera only would’ve done much for Cry Macho’s chances of becoming something worthy of note however as there’s little spark in the film in any areas other than extremely brief little instances of odd couple banter between Milo, Rafo and his best friend/rooster Macho but as you sit, watch and await the film to find its heart and soul or any type of creative mojo, you’re left with nothing more than a meandering affair that takes a long pitstop on the way back to the border, seemingly leading to a big event that never eventuates. 

It’s best to describe the whole outing as hollow, nothing more than a shell of a potentially heartwarming or emotionally charged tale of friendship, love and life lessons with it unlikely that even the most forgiving and passionate supporters of Eastwood the man and the actor will find anything here to make them feel as though Cry Macho deserves to exist. 

Final Say – 

A sadly lifeless drama from one of Hollywood’s greatest icons, who should really have known better than to act in this film and conjure up such a dull a dreary ride. Cry Macho could have perhaps been something special, as it stands, it’s a road trip you’re best off never jumping in for. 

1 1/2 veterinarians out of 5