Cry Macho review

[Westside Steve]

Cry macho

 Warner brothers

 PG13              104 min

 Hey gang I really hate to be the bearer of bad news. Like most television and movie fans I've always really liked Clint Eastwood; as an actor and now as a director/actor he’s one of the pillars of Hollywood and a true icon of the theatrical American West.  Sure, he’s played different versions of the American tough guy, cops, boxers, soldiers et cetera but he’s known best for the western roles which is one reason CRY MACHO caught my attention.   Here he’s Mike Milo an aging ex rodeo star who’s recently gotten the boot from his horse trainer job. (That sets up the 1^stproblem with the film.)  After he’s fired by rancher Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam) I couldn't figure out any reason for the sudden hostility.  It also didn't make sense when Polk returns later to ask Milo for a big favor.  That favor involved something about Polk’s former wife in Mexico and custody their son Raphael (Eduardo Minett). This custody squabble has more to do with who gets control of a valuable piece of land than Rafael.  Now out of the blue, Polk hires Milo to travel to Mexico and bring the kid back to Texas. (Just for the record the border was a lot easier to transverse in the early seventies.)   Milo makes his way to Mexico and after  an unpleasant encounter with the ex wife and her new squeeze persuades the boy  and his pet fighting  rooster (named macho hence the title,) to return to the Texas ranch.. At this point CRY MACHO becomes an action buddy picture as the three make their way to the border.   Sadly, the slow-paced action aspect falls apart if for no other reason that Eastwood is 91 years old and even with stand ins et cetera there's not much the poor guy seems comfortable with. But more than the action the point of the story is that Mike and Raphael bond along the way and  because neither parent really cares about the kid you get the feeling that the two are looking at a lasting relationship.  Actually, make that 3 or 4. During an important sequence of events the car breaks down and Mike stumbles into a job breaking wild horses for a small rancher.   That tiny village also has a quaint little café owned and operated by a lovely and lonely woman named Marta (Natalie Traven) and the chemistry between her and Mike is not all that unbelievable.  (Keep that premonition in mind for the climax) I won’t reveal the ending but if you let your imagination take a few steps you can see that things might just work out for the best.

 Sadly, even with all its good intentions this isn't a very good movie. It's slow, the action is clumsy, the situations are at the very best hard to believe, and the acting is pretty bad.  Even though I love Yoakam as a musical artist his thespian chops need some work.

C-

WSS