“Cry Macho” (MA) ***

“CRY Macho” originates from a novel by N Richard Nash collaborating with Nick Schenk, a long-time collaborator with 91-year-old director Clint Eastwood of whom it might justifiably now be asked: “What? Still making movies?”

Likeable enough, it also poses a corollary question: “Will it be Eastwood’s last?” 

He plays Mike Milo, one-time horse breeder and rodeo rider who, in 1979, takes a job to bring a man’s adolescent son away from his alcoholic mom. Driving from Mexico back to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which Milo may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what being a good man means.

The bad guys are only a minor intrusion into “Cry Macho”. Sure, they’re there. But their main purpose is to energise the tempo occasionally to keep it from falling asleep. The film has structural issues for the sharp-eyed filmgoer to find annoying, particularly continuity. 

Sere though it is, the landscape looks good. And the casting of Macho is a work of genius. He’s beautiful. He’s a great actor, obeying his cues faultlessly. Some might consider the film’s most delightful images to be Milo and the boy walking along one on either side of him. If he’s not careful, he’ll end up in the pot. Because Macho is the boy’s pet cock. I’m no poultry expert; I don’t know his breed, but he looks superb.

At Palace Electric and Dendy