Cry Macho: Lamentably thin gruel

Cry Macho (2021) • View trailer

2.5 stars (out of five). Rated PG-13, for dramatic intensity and brief profanity

Available via: Movie theaters and HBO Max

By Derrick Bang

Much as it pains me to write these words…

 

Clint, it’s time to hang up your acting spurs.

 

Although Rafo (Eduardo Minett, right) eventually agrees to accompany Mike (Clint
Eastwood) across the border and into Texas, to reunite with his long-estranged
father, the boy insists on bringing his prize rooster along.

Cry Macho has several problems, but the most glaring is that Eastwood is visibly too old for the starring role. Yes, the part calls for the wisdom, maturity and measured assurance of a man in his dotage, but there’s such a thing as carrying that too far. Eastwood looks wan and fragile on the screen; we wince when he simply crosses a room, praying that he doesn’t fall and break a hip.

It’s also obvious — even though this is a totally calm story, by Eastwood standards — that this man, as presented, couldn’t possibly accomplish the mission he’s been given.

 

Eastwood would have been perfect for this part 10 years ago, perhaps even five. But not now.

 

It’s distracting, and rips us right out of the movie.

 

Mind you, the Nick Schenk/N. Richard Mash screenplay is nothing to write home about. It’s a deliberately old-school entry in the “bonding road trip” genre; that would be fine, if the scripters paid better attention to detail. But their uneven narrative has plot holes that would swallow a pickup, and the non-conclusion leaves far too many hanging chads.

 

The year is 1979, the setting Texas. Mike Milo (Eastwood) is a former rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder deadened by depression: unable to do the work he loves best, and also devastated by long-ago personal loss. His former employer, Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam, nicely understated), calls in a favor with a request: Cross the border into Mexico, find Polk’s long-estranged teenage son Rafo, and bring him home.

 

It won’t be easy, Polk warns. His Mexican ex-wife might know where the boy is, but they’re long past speaking terms. Even so — with one of Eastwood’s long-suffering sighs, and an expression of grim resignation — Mike accepts. It’s not as if he’s otherwise occupied.

 

Once across the border, his first stop is a chat with Leta (Fernanda Urrejola), the aforementioned ex-wife. She’s a spiteful alcoholic who apparently couldn’t care less about Rafo; Urrejola makes the woman thoroughly unpleasant. But Leta does know where her son can be found: at the local cock-fighting ring.

 

She cheerfully parts with this information because — and this is important — having appraised Mike, she doesn’t think him capable of making any headway with Rafo.

 

(People have underestimated Eastwood characters for more than half a century. It has become a Hollywood cliché.)

Blue Miracle: A heart-warming catch

Blue Miracle (2021) • View trailer

3.5 stars (out of five). Rated PG-13, for brief violence and mild dramatic intensity

Available via: Netflix

By Derrick Bang

As the years pass, I realize that the world is laden with real-life inspirational sagas, just waiting to be found. And shared.

 

While Geco (Anthony Gonzalez, far left) and Omar (Jimmy Gonzalez, far right) watch
apprehensively, Malloy (Dennis Quaid) hastily shows Moco (Miguel Angel Garcia) how
to hold the pole and "play" the line, while trying to land the marlin that has just been hooked.

This is another profoundly uplifting one. Pair it with Dream Horse, and you’ve got a sensational double-feature.

Director/co-scripter Julio Quintana’s Blue Miracle is aptly titled, given its depiction of actual events that only can be described as miraculous. Granted, we know where this story is going — otherwise, the movie certainly wouldn’t exist — but that doesn’t minimize the heartwarming journey.

 

The time is late summer 2014, the setting the Casa Hogar Orphanage in Cabo San Lucas, which houses roughly 40 orphans and runaway boys who’d otherwise be living rough — and likely dying — on the streets. The place is managed by dedicated “foster parents” Omar and Becca Venegas (Jimmy Gonzales and Fernanda Urrejola), who’ve relied on donations to maintain their six-year-old operation.

 

The place is rowdy and humble, but the atmosphere is warm and caring. Omar insists that the boys call him “Papa Omar,” and most are cheerfully willing to oblige. Becca, in turn, works miracles with three shoestring-budget meals each day.

 

But funds and donations have evaporated, and Omar has been dodging calls from the bank; foreclosure seems imminent, which is beyond horrifying. What will happen to all the boys?

 

Adding insult to injury, Hurricane Odile abruptly changes course and slams into Mexico’s southern Baja California peninsula, flooding and severely damaging the orphanage. Now needing additional money for repairs, the situation appears hopeless.

 

On an entirely different scale, the hurricane has depleted entries for the annual three-day, big-money Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament, which has taken place in Cabo every October since 1981. More than 150 teams usually pay $5,000 to enter what is regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious sport fishing competitions, with winners angling for millions in prize money.

 

(Although Quintana and co-writer Chris Dowling don’t take anything approaching a strident tone regarding the disparity between the cash-strapped Casa Hogar Orphanage, and the obscenely wealthy international visitors who arrive with their luxurious sport fishing boats, the contrast is impossible to miss.)