THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It felt like an end of an era when Clint Eastwood decided to stop making westerns after his first Best Picture Winner, Unforgiven. Although he continued to have a presence in Hollywood for the following decades, he would not return to his roots until 2021.
PLOT
Based on the novel by N Richard Nash, Cry Macho takes place in 1979 Texas and follows Michael Milo, who has retired as a rodeo star due to a back injury. His former boss Howard Polk hires him to pick up his son Rafael aka Rafo from Mexico. His reason for not going himself because he has legal issues that prevent him from entering Mexico and he is aware that his crime lord mother Leta is allowing him to be abused by others. He picks Mike because he is aware the son is fascinated of cowboys. The protagonist agrees to do it and when he meets the mother, she shares that her son goes out to participate in cockfights. He does find the boy and he does get excited to hear that his father wants to see him. However, he runs off when police are near. Mike sees Leta again who claims he isn’t gonna leave with him. When he turns down her advances, she demands him to leave without her son. He does head back, but Rafo snuck in with his pet rooster, Macho. Despite wanting to avoid trouble, he moves forward with the task by heading to the border. When he checks in with Howard that he picked up his son, they get into conflict Leta’s henchman Aurelio (Horacio Garcia Rojas) who attempts to take the boy back to his mother. Both avoid him when Rafo tells the locals of his abuse, backing it up by showing off his marks as proof. When they gang up on him, both protagonists keep moving. During another stop, they get Mike’s car taken by thieves. But luckily for him, he finds an abandoned car and takes that to keep moving. And ironically, the thieves would later get apprehended by authorities for their crimes. At their next stop, they go to small town and dine at a cafe ran by a woman named Marta and her grandchildren. The two would then take shelter in a shrine to avoid driving through a rainy night. During this time, Mike opens up to Rafo, sharing that he suffered from alcoholism after his wife and child died in a car accident. However at the time, Howard saved his life by looking after him, giving him a job when others wouldn’t. This means that this journey is Mike returning the favor. By morning, he kills time with Rafo by teaching him how to ride a horse, until they find another car as the other one suffered from a gas leak. He also gets to nurse wounded animals in the meantime. He does check in with Howard again and becomes disappointed with the true intent of wanting Rafo with him: He wants to use him as leverage in order to get his half share of investments from Leta as promised. Despite his irritation, he chooses not to tell the boy yet. The two would then spend the night at Marta’s casita and days later, they get another car and take off when Aurelio catches up. Mike does tell Rafo of his father’s true intent of wanting him but despite this, he still wants to see him because he knows he’ll have a better life with him. After getting harassed by authorities, Aurelio does find them and knocks them off the road, none of them luckily get injured. With the help of Macho, Mike is able to get the drop on him by taking his gun. They would then take his car and leave him. After this, they finally reach the border and Rafo crosses to meet his father. After being given Macho as an act of saying 'thank you', the film ends with Mike staying in Mexico to live the rest of his life with Marta, as the two developed feelings for each other during his visit.
THOUGHTS
When I first watched Unforgiven as a kid, I desired to see a Clint Eastwood western in theaters. While I made the decision to see this on (HBO)Max, I still enjoyed what I got out of it. I ended up liking this film because Eastwood directs the most gentle of westerns. I describe it this way because most of the said type of films regularly have the highest of stakes, whereas this one had smaller stakes. Seeing the difference brought fresh air that almost felt missing. The one that truly made it stand out is how this a journey of redemption and self discovery, whereas most classics focus on good old fashioned revenge. At age 91, Eastwood can still give a good performance. He is just as grizzled as you remember him for in Gran Torino, but he also presents Mike Milo as a soul who got lost after his own personal loss. But when picked to find Rafo helped him find a new purpose and realize that he can still enjoy life while he still can. There was nothing left for him in Texas, which is why I respected that he chose to stay in Mexico. Going into the rest of the cast, I honestly adored Natalia Traven as Marta because there was nothing but warmth coming from her. She and Mike connected right off the bat because they both understood what loss is and their kindness to each other revitalized their spirits. Once you remember that, you smile that he goes back to her, reminding us that love comes in many shapes & forms, and it is never too late to fall in love (again). Both Dwight Yoakam and Fernanda Urrejola were easily on point on playing the most despicable characters here. Dwight presents Howard as the typical selfish businessman, but Fernanda dials it up being manipulative towards those around her as Leta. Last but not least, breakout Eduardo Minett succeeds in holding his own as Rafo. He presents his character as one who lived his entire life misguided, unable to fit in the cruel world. He tries to prove his strong will because being strong is the only thing he knows and he embraces it through his pet rooster. I believe he is the strongest child character ever written because of how he was able to keep his head up after years of abuse, being hopeful of escaping until he did. It is a tough call for him to go stay with Howard, but at least it is better than being with Leta. Which is why I chose to smile when he crossed that border because things were gonna be better for him. Now just because I got a soft spot for this movie, does not mean there were no plot related issues. For example, why didn't Howard tell Mike about the job to pick up Rafo at home? It felt so weird for him to rudely fire him, only to hire him for a personal job. Also, why wasn't he upfront of his true intent of wanting Rafo? I'm pretty sure Mike still would've taken the job if he did. And why didn't Aurelio just shoot him when he found Rafo twice? I don't want that to happen but he is old and because of his connection to Leta, it would've been easy for him to get away with it. Lastly, the only thing that bothered me of Rafo was when he asks how come his dad never called him. It's not like the boy had a phone and if he did, how would either of them know each other's number? That was a lame way for him to pout of an absent father. Other than that, the movie is fine. In short, Cry Macho is the most gentle of westerns, which felt necessary at the time it was released. If you still love the combination of Clint Eastwood and westerns, check this out when you can.
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