Cry Macho Movie Review

I don’t want to say this, but perhaps it’s time Clint Eastwood swats that acting bug away from himself. If the creativity is still within him, he may want to consider staying behind the lens.
What’s asked of this role, among other things, is that the actor play a man who’s young enough to swoon a middle-aged woman and beat up a much younger man (who badly wants to take him down). It also calls for him to walk across the room without looking as if he needs to rest. Can Eastwood play this role believably? No. Not anymore. I don’t mean to be harsh; I’m just being honest.

With “Cry Macho,” it’s impractical to try and sell the “tough guy” act to an audience who won’t be persuaded into buying the wares after only a few minutes into the film. It’s too easy to see that at 91-years of age, Clint Eastwood isn’t quite up to the challenge the part requires. In the movie, Mike Milo, Eastwood’s character, isn’t some bad-ass who’s musclebound or anything, but Milo cannot be great-grandpa.

Milo’s past is that of a rodeo star who has gotten thrown and run down by furious and large bulls a time or two. The damage he has encountered has clearly gotten the best of him. That helps explain some of what could be taken as his issues, and the ruggedness, but not enough to make it convincing. Sorry to say, but a lot is asked of the lighting crew, as well. Eastwood is put in shadows and scenes are purposely kept dark, all in an attempt to disguise exactly how frail Eastwood has become. He’s terribly thin, and unfortunately, you find yourself thinking of what was a time or two.

I’m reminded of other older directors who’ve consistently put themselves in their films. They may want to join the cast but make the wise decision to withdraw from starring at a certain point, allowing that honor to go to another talent. I wish Eastwood would have had the foresight to have done this with “Cry Macho.” The actor slurred some of his speech, and it appears he may have made some mistakes they decided to leave in, hoping they’re overlooked by the audience. He was offered the role twenty years earlier. Maybe he was even too old for the part then, but the fit and accomplished man he was would have made it work. This Eastwood? He simply can’t.

Milo takes a job from his surly ex-boss, Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam), to go to Mexico and bring his son Rafo (Eduardo Minett) back. Polk wants him removed from the home of his horribly abusive and alcoholic mother Leta (Fernanda Urrejola). He has tried many times to retrieve him before asking Milo, but they’ve all failed. Leta won’t speak to him, and for this, he needs Milo to, for all intense and purposes, kidnap the kid.

Needing new and dangerous adventure in his old age, I guess, he takes the job. Polk’s ex-wife tells Milo that the kid is gutter trash and worse and wishes Milo luck on his search.

Milo finds Rafo. What and who he finds is anything but what she suggested he was. He gets to know the young man on the way back and sees that he’s a relatively gentle boy, especially to his beloved pet rooster.

Milo finds out that Polk had other reasons for getting his son brought to him. In a manner, the boy is of monetary value to him. This being the case, the route back isn’t as pleasant as he had hoped it would be. They take a lot of detours along the way. However, this leads Milo to meet Marta (Natalia Traven), who owns a restaurant the weary travelers stumble into. Lucky for them, she’s enamored with the grandfather type and rents them a room when they end up having to crash with her, too. I’ll let you discover where the film goes from here, only adding that had Eastwood done this when first approached, it would have been quite good.

There are some great lines in the movie. One of which is about the name of the pet rooster belonging to Mike’s young charge. That name is Macho; you’ll see how it ties into the film’s title.

The line of which I speak is said after Rafo explains to Mike why he named “the chicken” Macho. Mike says, “Guy wants to name his cock Macho; it’s OK by me.” No one could have delivered it better than Clint Eastwood. He’s that smooth. Ironically, there’s also a line where he suggests you can’t fix old. For a Clint Eastwood fan, that one stung a bit.

In the end, Polk gets what he wants, Rafo returned to him. Where that’s good for Rafo remains to be seen. The Mike Milo that drove across the border into Mexico is not the same one who goes back. That Milo gets what he wants, too, he just didn’t know he was searching for what he found.

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