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Post by Kimble on Jan 9, 2009 18:55:50 GMT -5
Clint Eastwood stars as truck driver Philo Beddoe, who also does some fighting on the side for extra cash. He also has a pet orangutan named "Clyde." He then falls for a country music singer named Lynn Halsey-Taylor. He then follows her across the country to her home in Denver, Colorado after she disappears. Also starring Geoffrey as Orville & Ruth Gordon as his foul-mouthed & hilarious mother. Beverly D'Angelo also makes an appearance in this movie. I saw this for the first time a few months back. I thought it'd be really stupid but I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was stupid in parts but fun-stupid. There was a lot of fist fights & bar brawling, which is always a plus in my book. The Black Widow Biker gang has to be one of the most inept biker gangs ever. They added some more fun comic relief. A pretty big change in Eastwood's films. In fact, it was almost a polar opposite. Definitely more light-hearted. Overall, a very enjoyable movie. I have it in a triple feature with its sequel Any Which Way You Can & Honkytonk Man. The theme song by Eddie Rabbitt always seems to get stuck in my head.
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Post by Jeff Goldblum on Jan 9, 2009 23:37:15 GMT -5
I have it in a triple feature with its sequel Any Which Way You Can & Honkytonk Man. I'm still not sure why the studio went with such an odd pairing. Pink Cadillac would've been a far more logical choice than Honkytonk Man. I always thought these were fun, offbeat movies. But EWWBL was such a change of pace, most people thought Eastwood was committing career suicide. Instead, it ended up being one of his biggest hits. (I believe it was his highest grosser until Unforgiven.) The only real drawback is the casting of Sondra Locke. Her singing ruins some otherwise great country soundtracks, and she's particularly unlikeable in EWWBL. It also doesn't make sense that her character returned in the sequel, but I guess the studio wanted everyone back. For some reason, most people seem to have trouble with the ending. Even the wikipedia entry suggests that Philo just inexplicably decides to be a nice guy. But I always loved the fact that he simply doesn't want to be the fastest gun in the west. I think the sequel's story is paced a little better, mainly because I like the epic fight and its slow build up. The comedy was a little goofier, but it featured another good soundtrack- including Eastwood singing a song called "Beers To You". What's not to like?
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Post by Kimble on Jan 9, 2009 23:46:51 GMT -5
I totally forgot to mention Sondra Locke. Yeah she wasn't very good in this & was the weakest aspect of the film. I hated her singing(it was terrible) & didn't like her character. She was better in Sudden Impact, in my opinion, but that's an entirely different movie. I love the part with Ma vs. the Black Widows. I really was surprised with how much I liked this. There's also a four film feature with the three aforementioned flicks plus Space Cowboys.
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Post by Jeff Goldblum on Jan 10, 2009 0:09:02 GMT -5
Yeah, I think Sudden Impact was probably her best role with Eastwood. Her limited acting ability worked nicely for a character that was emotionally shut down. She made six films with Eastwood, three of which basically cast her as a shrill, unlikeable woman (The Gauntlet; EWWBL; Bronco Billy). It's interesting that for Any Which Way You Can, her character's personality suddenly took a 180 turn. There's also a four film feature with the three aforementioned flicks plus Space Cowboys. Space Cowboys is a good match. Bronco Billy would be as well. Honkytonk Man has quite a few comedic moments, but it's really more of a drama.
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Post by magicmikassa on Feb 9, 2009 5:04:42 GMT -5
I surprisingly found myself enjoying this movie one late night while watching tv. I thought it was going to be a trainwreck, but its actually quite fun. I however am one of those people with a problem with the ending. My problem was simply that it suddenly got real serious at the end. For a movie about a guy beating up people with his Orangutan friend it had a pretty depressing ending. He purposely loses the fight AND he finds out the girl he's been chasing the whole movie wants nothing to do with him [END SPOILER]
I mean how more depressing can you get? I saw this movie at the same time as Thunderbolt and Lightfoot which was another really fun 70's movie with a sudden downer ending. Getting two of those in a row I guess really hit me hard. However, this is still an enjoyable film and either way I'd say its worth watching just for the curiosity factor alone.
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Post by Jeff Goldblum on Feb 13, 2009 21:54:45 GMT -5
The ending was one of the reasons Eastwood was attracted to the film, since it's definitely not the kind of conventional Hollywood resolution you would expect. You rarely see the hero lose the girl, then decide he doesn't want any fame or success. It's almost like the anti-Rocky.
I think Thunderbolt and Lightfoot's shift in tone is a lot more abrupt, though. EWWBL still ends on a fairly upbeat note, since Philo is clearly content to go back to his usual way of life. This is somewhat foreshadowed earlier in the film, when we see that Philo is more comfortable expressing himself to Clyde than to Lynn.
But in the case of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, it's clear that Thunderbolt will not take the same level of enjoyment in his success. I've never really thought to compare these two endings before, but they form an interesting contrast.
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Post by magicmikassa on Feb 15, 2009 23:38:20 GMT -5
Yeah, those are good points about the two endings. The reason this movie's ending must have struck me so much is because I was watching it late at night and expecting a dumb Orangutan comedy without anything serious. The fact that I happened to watch Thunderbolt and Lightfoot that same week is what made me compare the two. Either way I enjoyed both movies. I do agree though that Thunderbolt and Lightfoot had a MUCH more sudden and jarring serious turn at the end. Personally I found it a little too sudden, but I still dig it nonetheless. I had to watch the ending again though after thinking more about it just to really pay attention to Bridge's performance at the end and all the changes he goes through.
You know writing about these movies made me realize I still haven't seen the sequel to Every Which Way. I always get the titles for those two movies confused by the way. I heard the sequel is not as good, but just to satisfy my curiosity I'll have to watch it.
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