Cry Macho
2021
*½
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam, Eduardo Minett, Natalia Traven, Fernanda Urrejola, Horacio Garcia Rojas
A retired rodeo star Mike Milo agrees to travel to Mexico City to bring back his ex-boss' son Rafo from the boy's unstable mother. Who better for this treacherous 2,000+ km round trip than a frail old man? N. Richard Nash's story started life as a screenplay in the 1970s, which he then reworked into a novel, and now it ends up on the screen. I'm tempted to ask what the was fuss about. This is an utterly unremarkable and drama-free story with ridiculous characters. Mike is the great white saviour who can kick bandito ass, comfort lonely Mexican ladies, heal animals, break horses, and fix cars. In The Mule, Clint managed to have not one but two threesomes, and here at the age of 91, he continues to be irresistible to women not even half his age. My guess is that this role was written for a much younger actor. Rafo, on the other hand, is a friendly and empathetic 13-year-old, despite being neglected by both of his parents. The story is set in 1980, probably so we don't need to think about mobile phones or border-crossing documents.
