Film Review: CRY MACHO (2021): Clint Eastwood’s New Dramatic Film is a Well Meaning But Slight Slice of Life

Cry Macho Review

Cry Macho (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam, Eduardo Minett, Daniel V. Graulau, Amber Lynn Ashley, Brytnee Ratledge, Alexandra Ruddy, Sebestien Soliz, Horacio Garcia Rojas, Ivan Hernandez, Fernanda Urrejola, Natalia Traven, Marco Rodriguez, Abiah Martinez, Ramona Thornton and Elida Munoz.

Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Cry Macho, is very slight. There is the fact that the plot of the film is threadbare and that the movie doesn’t go anywhere particularly exciting but, on the other hand, Eastwood is entitled to a personal movie after a career of amazing films and performances. His new picture is a love letter to the smaller things in life and while it’s hardly groundbreaking, it has its moments.

Eastwood both stars in and directs Cry Macho which is the story of Mike Milo (Eastwood), an aging cowboy who has suffered the loss of his wife and son. He is given a chance at a new life when he is given an assignment by his old boss Howard (Dwight Yoakam). That job is to go across the border to Mexico and get Howard’s young teenage son, Rafo (Eduardo Minett). Mike is reluctant at first but takes the job as the movie’s story sets into motion.

We meet the very offbeat mother of Rafo, Leta (Fernanda Urrejola) who goes as far as trying to seduce Mike for reasons the film doesn’t give very much explanation for. She eventually insists that Mike get out of town and go back home or else there will be consequences for him. Rafo has conveniently hidden himself in Mike’s truck with his rooster named Macho and, soon, Mike has no choice but to try to fulfill his obligation to Howard and bring him his son Rafo. You don’t have to have seen a lot of movies to figure out that Mike and Rafo will form a bond and teach each other a thing or two about life.

Mike promises Rafo that his dad has noble intentions in bringing him back and this makes Rafo excited at the prospect of a new life for himself. When Mike and Rafo take a detour to avoid getting caught by the authorities, they meet a widow named Marta (Natalia Traven) who is raising some granddaughters. There is a connection between Marta and Mike that makes for some subtle chemistry between these two characters. It’s nice to see their beautiful interaction in the film which is one of the picture’s highlights.

Soon, Eastwood’s Mike becomes a self proclaimed Dr. Dolittle as he offers people in the local town suggestions on how to deal with their sick or injured animals. The audience soon realizes that this new life for Mike may become his salvation and that Mike and Rafo may have more in common than they originally seemed.

Cry Macho doesn’t have as much dramatic intensity as one may expect given the story line of the son’s troubled relationship with his parents. It, instead, offers insights in the more enjoyable moments found in everyday life such as in the scenes where Mike and Marta bond and Rafo starts to get to know one of Marta’s grandaughters. Both characters discover peaceful tranquility but Rafo must make a decision what he wants to do–stay put or go to his father.

Clint Eastwood, as an actor in the film, is good. He’s aging, of course, but he gives Mike a personality and is very relatable throughout the film. We want Mike to discover the beauty of life in the time he has left and find happiness in his twilight years. Eduardo Minett as Rafo is OK. He brings the emotions to his character that are required but there could have been more depth to this character than what we see on the screen and this may have been a problem in the actual script rather than one with Minett himself. Traven is a delight as Marta. The rooster, however, steals the show.

The biggest problem with Cry Macho is the fact that the film’s ending leaves a lot of loose ends but if you don’t look too closely and just accept the film as a story of redemption and new beginnings, you’re likely to enjoy it a lot more. There are no really big action scenes or overly dramatic sequences. Instead, we find Eastwood has created a slice of life about an aging character who realizes there is plenty of life left in him and a boy who must start a life of his own for better or worse but, hopefully, better.

Cry Macho is a sweet film but could have been more if Eastwood wanted it to be more. I think he’s at the point in his life where he’s happy with the smaller things in life and that’s exactly what Cry Macho offers us a glimpse of–the beautiful moments we’re too busy missing while trying to see the larger picture.

Rating: 6/10

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