Clint Eastwood is a tough guy. The movies he stars in and directs are manly-man movies, right? His movies are full of action, car chases, gun fights, cigar gnawing, squinting, and very little dialogue, right?Then why have the past few Clint Eastwood movies I’ve seen made me cry?
Bridges of Madison County
Truly, I thought this movie made every woman cry until recently. A book club buddy and I were discussing The Book vs. The Movie and how the book is usually better. I cited Bridges as an instance when the movie was actually better than the book. My friend had never seen the movie so I loaned her the DVD. The next day she said the movie was sad but it didn’t make her cry. She didn’t believe the relationship between Meryl Streep’s character and Clint Eastwood’s character because he was so old. I stared at her in disbelief. Then I chalked up her comment to the fact that she was only 10 years old when the movie was released.
Gran Torino
I was feeling a little blue over the holidays. My Sweetie had exhausted our collection light-hearted films trying to cheer me up. As a he read the list of movies available On-Demand, my ears pricked up when I heard Gran Torino. That’s a Clint Eastwood movie. It should be action-packed. Let’s watch it.
Totally not what I expected. The ending made me cry. A lot.
Million-Dollar Baby
Once again, this past weekend we were scrolling through the movies On-Demand. We skimmed the Oscar Winners category and I spied Million-Dollar Baby. Normally, I wouldn’t watch a movie about boxing but it’s a Clint Eastwood movie. Plus Hilary Swank won the Oscar for Best Actress so the acting must be of value, right?
Right. The acting was of value. But Clint Eastwood should have won the Oscar for acting in addition to Best Director and Best Picture. This is the only movie in which I saw Clint Eastwood’s character cry. I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. Let’s just say that after the movie I locked myself in the bathroom and sobbed for five minutes.
The next Eastwood movie I watch will be a Spaghetti Western.
Photo: Time, Inc. ©
8 comments:
Both Bridges and Grand Torino made me cry. Bridges was a tough movie for some people to understand...the whole "affair" thing just didn't ring right with some folks. But I thought it did an incredible job of capturing the undeniable moments between two people who connected on a rare soul level and then the complexity of the decision Meryl ultimately had to make. Clint did an exceptional job.
*Sigh*
The older I get, the easier I cry.
I do love Clint, and his movies. I know he wasn't in "Letters from Iwo Jima (sorry about spelling...)", but that made me cry too.
Love Clint. I cried with all three of those. Last night I watched The Worlds Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins, and I even cried at that...and it wasn't sad, but touching. I've become even more of an emotional wimp as I've gotten older!
Clint's good any time.
Bit by bit (because I don't have time for more lately) I have been watching The Outlaw Josey Wales. It's a fantastic one! Still might make you cry though, it's pretty disturbing in parts.
Erica, have you seen In the Line of Fire? One of my all-time favorite Clint Eastwood movies. A worthy companion to the fine films you mention, but I doubt you will shed a tear!
Love Bridges and Million Dollar Baby! I sobbed like a little baby in the theater when I saw Million Dollar Baby - so good.
I love Bridges! Sadly I still haven't seen Million Dollar Baby or Gran Torino.
I really liked Blood Work and Space Cowboys.
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