Truly the most bafflingly awful aspect of Cry Macho, however, is Clint Eastwood’s Mike, who ultimately comes across as an overstuffed ego trip for the director/star. This is character with not one, but two tragic backstories (his wife and child are killed in a car accident AND he was a drug addict and alcoholic following a horrible rodeo accident), and he is written as a spectacular and sexy polymath. Gorgeous women not only throw themselves at this nonagenarian, but he breaks horses, practices rudimentary veterinary medicine, repairs cars, fixes jukeboxes, knows sign language, and more. His only real flaw is that he can be irascible, but that’s hardly a noticeable trait given that it has been a part of all of Eastwood’s performances in recent years.
