Clint, Eduardo, Vince & M
Friday night’s movie fix, courtesy of Netflix by mail, was disappointing. Cry Macho (2021) was Clint Eastwood’s 46th directorial effort, and one wonders if it will be his last given that he is now in his 90’s. Set circa 1980, it’s the story of an old Texas cowboy — widower, recovered alcoholic — commissioned by a cold-blooded rancher to retrieve his estranged 13-year-old son from Mexico. The kid is living on the streets, making money in cockfighting, his rooster named Macho. He is also estranged from his mom, a party girl who’s probably a hooker. The cowhand convinces the kid to go to his rich father and they begin an odyssey that necessitates outwitting federales, police, and thugs sent by dear old mom. The movie does not go the way one would expect, which would no doubt disappoint fans of the icon’s violent fare. This is a kinder, gentler Eastwood. Two questions occurred to me through the 1:44 running time. Does the star cast himself in order to keep the cost of production down? And did he chose the lack of closeups and dim lighting to minimize the effects of his age? The story line is okay. It is not fresh. The performances are solid, reserved, grounded. Country music legend Dwight Yoakam does a good as the rancher. Eduardo Minett, a couple of years older than 13 at the time of shooting, plays the kid. He honed his skills in Mexican TV, appearing in four series, a total of 15 episodes. Natalia Traven injects much needed life into the narrative as the wayward mom. Mexico’s Fernanda Urrejola is sweet as a kind widow restaurant-owner. 27,000+ users at IMDb have rated Cry Macho, forging to a consensus of 5.7 on a scale of ten. It tanked at the box office, returning $16 million on a budget of $33 million. It’s in the bottom third of Eastwood’s overall fantastic overall canon. Here are the legend and the young man, in character, photo from Google Images:
RIP Vince Dooley, 91, long time coach of the University of Georgia. Born in Alabama, he earned a football scholarship to Auburn, where he had an undistinguished run at QB. He spent the first ten years of his coaching career at his alma mater, serving as offensive coordinator. He was then hired to guide Georgia. During his 25-year tenure, the Bulldogs won six SEC championships and the 1980 National Championship, the latter powered by RB Herschel Walker, now running for Senator for the Peach State. Dooley’s overall record is 201–77–10, 8–10–2 in bowl games. He was named Coach of the Year by five separate entities, and five times in the conference. He stepped down after the 1988 season, and then concentrated on his duties as athletic director, to which he had been named in 1979 while the head coach, a position in which he remained until 2004. He is a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame. Married from 1960 until his death, he is a father of four, two of whom became successful college coaches themselves. Well done, sir. Photo from Google Images:
She still likes to shock. Headline from foxnews.com: “Madonna poses topless in gold corset in series of wild photos.” One can never have too much exposure, publicity. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I will not post pictures. They are easily found.
My thanks to the gentleman who saved the day at this afternoon’s session of the floating book shop, buying two books on language and two medical texts. The joy of beginning a new novella/novel had taken a lot of the sting out of the shop’s poor return this past week, but not on this beautiful afternoon. I’m nine-plus handwritten pages in and lovin’ it.
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