There is probably no more perfect example of a film made for same-day streaming release than Cry Macho, a film that’s existence in every way – physically, theoretically, spiritually – is indebted to it’s director-star Clint Eastwood. At 91, Eastwood is still playing crusty, old misanthropes of few words, spiteful toward the shifting morals of the world and valiant in his confrontation of it. Cry Macho might remind many of Gran Torino, his most high-profile geriatric tough guy film, which included his iconic line-reading “Get off my lawn”. Macho also involves a steely Eastwood guiding a young man of color out of a dangerous situation. He is a white savior but he’s anything but angelic, proving that intimidation is a much better tool than congregation.

He plays a former rodeo star named Mike Milo (I know) who’s hired by his former employer (Dwight Yoakam) to go into Mexico and get his son, Rafael (Eduardo Minett), who lives with his mother (Fernanda Urrejola) in an unstable, abusive home. Rafael keeps a rooster with him named Macho, who becomes a companion on their journey from Mexico City to the border. There’s some odd couple comedy between Minett and Eastwood, and a romantic subplot involving a tavern owner named Marta (Natalia Traven) who has a crush on on Mike because, well, the script apparently thinks that’s where the story should go. The degree to which Cry Macho is entertaining at all is due to Eastwood, who still proves enthusiastic for these growling-mercenary-turned-mentor roles, no matter how preposterous the story may be. This is far from the best from such a Hollywood legend, and it’s a gift that most of us didn’t shell out a movie ticket price to see it.

 

Directed by Clint Eastwood