He Machista in the title of Clint Eastwood’s latest, Cry Macho, refers to the name of a prize-winning rooster owned by a thirteen-year-old Mexican boy, as well as the masculinity represented by the rooster. It’s 1980 and the boy, Rafa (Eduardo Minett), travels north to meet the American father he barely meets at the border, accompanied by a Texas cowboy, Mike (Eastwood), who is carrying out the which is technically a kidnapping as a favor. to the father. The rooster is ready for the trip, much to Mike’s chagrin. The symbolism is that of the passage to virility and its false idols, although, as in the last vehicle starring Eastwood, The mule, there is less displacement than stopping and deviating.
For an Eastwood fan, a lot Cry Macho it will feel like a minor key variation in familiar motifs, with the thick feeling. Although he is forever known as Harry Callahan and the Nameless Man, the actor-director has spent decades deconstructing the iconography that made him a star, making films that tell us, of a one way or another, that heroism is momentary while grief tends to be a lifelong affair and that those hiding behind hardened exteriors end up looking back into the void.
Here, at the age of 91, almost 30 years since he separated from the Western genre in No forgiveness, throws back his wide-brimmed hat and even has a horse ridden briefly (though it’s definitely twice as much acrobatics as it does). Inclined, unstable and no longer so tall, however, he is a familiar Eastwood figure, affected by people he might have. He long ago lost his roller coaster due to a broken back and his family due to a car accident; more recently, he has lost his job as a horse trainer for alcohol and old age. The man who fired him is Rafa’s father, Howard (Dwight Yoakam), who claims unspecified “legal issues” prevent him from stepping on Mexico; as we soon know, Mike is actually the third man he has sent to retrieve the boy.
The plot, however, is purely secondary, with the bet a distant third; emphasis is placed on what might be called vibrations. If Eastwood has anything to say about the archetype of cowboys, it’s that he can still be a role model, as long as we accept his imperfections. Driving the delinquent and delinquent Rafa from Mexico City to the border, Mike teaches mostly by example. From him, we learn that a cowboy has to cook (“Cowboys always cook, it’s a matter of our dealings”), love animals, value the outdoors, and know how to fix a record box.
G / O Media may receive a commission
One has to wonder if Eastwood, through Mike, is addressing the younger audience who probably won’t see the film, the older audience that will, or their own state of living cultural memory. The bond between Mike and Rafa is never convincing (Eastwood’s style remains relentless for young and inexperienced actors), but it’s hard not to be moved by the sight of this old wizard suffocating and crying under the deep hat shadow. of edge.
Finally, the cowboy and the boy are lying down in a nice little village, where Mike catches the attention of Marta (Natalia Traven), a widow who runs a local restaurant, which causes scattered sweet moments in addition to long agonizing. As with the rest of Eastwood’s late works, one must expect wandering notes, a certain cruelty and cruelty, an awkward rhythm and stereotypes in minor roles. Some peculiarities of The mule they have continued, that is, Estwood’s predilection for conducting montages and her insistence on portraying her character as irresistible to several young women. Whether or not a viewer finds these charms probably depends on the investment they have in acting Cry Macho as an Eastwood text.
The fact is that, as a film, Cry Macho it’s slow and sometimes boring. But, as a statement from Hollywood’s lead man and oldest job director, he offers his proportion of bright and relevant strategies. As a The mule (to which it really is a complementary piece), Eastwood wants to remind us that a lot of life is just going to bed and eating different types of sandwiches; better get used to it and try to enjoy it. Just in case we don’t get the message, he does it at the end: “This machismo is overrated.”