(TheRedWire.com) – At 91 years old, famed actor Clint Eastwood is Hollywood’s oldest leading man. For nearly 30 years, the actor and director was supposedly calling it quits. But somehow, he can’t seem to escape the magic of making movies. The actor who brought us unforgettable characters is back, and this time he’s returning to a long-ago familiar genre.
In 1992, Eastwood hung up his cowboy hat after nearly thirty years of unforgettable western movies. From 1966 to 1992, the iconic actor starred in notable cowboy films such as:
- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
- A Fistful of Dollars
- The Outlaw Josey Wales
- For a Few Dollars More
- Pale Rider
- Hang ‘Em High
- Joe Kidd
- Two Mules for Sister Sara
Since 1992, Clint Eastwood has made 23 more films, sometimes working both in front of and behind the cameras. Some of them were supposed to be curtain calls. “Cry Macho” is his newest flick.
A New Cowboy for an Old Generation
Cry Macho is a movie based on a 1975 novel by N. Richard Nash. It’s 1980, and Clint plays Mike Milo, a former horse breeder and ranch hand. Mike’s former boss sends the old cowboy to Mexico City to retrieve his 13-year-old son, Rafael, whom he barely knows, and bring him to the US border. Technically, one could say Eastwood’s character is kidnapping the boy as a favor to his old boss.
Unbeknownst to Mike, the boy’s annoying rooster joins the duo for the trip north. It’s a symbolic story of growing up and growing old. Critics suggest Eastwood tries to create parts of his previous western motif, with emotional moments sprinkled in for effect. The story is another in a long line of allegories for Eastwood where the moral of the story is that being a hero is momentary while regret lives on for a lifetime. It’s a reminder: those who hide behind being tough end up looking back only to realize life was lonely, meaningless, and empty.
Mike’s character is complex yet simple at the same time. Years ago, rodeo stardom fled for browner pastures, and he lost his family in a tragic car accident. Most recently, he lost his horse training job due to alcohol addiction and age.
If you can accept Mike’s imperfections, he’s a role model for Rafael, who’s moody and troubled. The boy is enamored with the cowboy. Mike teaches him a cowboy must cook, value open air, love animals, and above all else, know how to repair a broken jukebox.
In the end, Mike teaches us to enjoy the mundane things in life, and he reminds us, “This macho thing is overrated.”
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